Fallen From Grace
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: Kate is turned into a child because of Jack's worries about being a father. Nine years have passed. Kate and Jack are parents, but they still face endless difficulties...including being rescued. JK CC SS. FINAL CHAPTER UP. COMPLETE
1. Paths That Angels Fear To Tread

**Ok, I'll warn you, this is a very strange story, but it shows a very soft side to Jack, and an insight to Kate's past. So please don't hate it because it's weird. There's going to be some Charlie/Claire, Shannon/Sayid, and in later chapters Jack/Kate, so please read :D Also, please review so that I know whether to continue or not.  
Sam  
Xx**

Three long years.

That's how long it had been since flight 815 crashed onto the mysterious island. Friendships had formed, relationships as well. Sayid and Shannon, Charlie and Claire, but perhaps the most prestigious of all was Kate and Jack. Not only were they more or less married in the eyes of the islanders, but Kate was also expecting their first child. Jack estimated that she was only five weeks along, but it didn't stop his fears.

He was scared of becoming his father, scared of not being able to take care of a child. He was offering to take care of Aaron, now nearing three years old, a lot more so that he would usually, just for the slightest idea of how to take care of a child, but he still felt helpless with the idea that it was his own child. He was hoping that the best way to learn to care for your own child is to learn to care for someone elses. Obviously not. He doubted that there was nothing up until the day of the birth when he held his child in his arms that would help him.

But the island works in mysterious ways...

* * *

"Jack, Jack are you here?"

Jack looked up from where he was filling the water bottles and saw Sayid running up to him. He looked out of breath and tired, also really sweaty. "What's the matter?" He asked, straightening up.

"Kate." Sayid said breathlessly.

Jack didn't wait for him to elaborate on that statement. "What's happened? Is she hurt? Sick? Where is she?"

Sayid got his breath back and then turned to Jack. "We don't know." He said.

Jack frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She's gone. Vanished."

"Sayid, people don't just vanish here." Jack said, walking back to the main camp and scanning through the people. "She was here ten minutes ago."

"Yes, she was." Sayid commented as he followed Jack into the camp. "She went onto the path towards the beach. Alone. I followed her, on my way there myself, and a few minutes into it she left the path."

"Left the path? Why would she do that?" Jack asked frantically, knowing the increased danger that lurked off the path now. Kate knew about it, why would she leave and put her and the baby in danger?

"It looked like she heard something, like she was following a voice, or someone she saw, and when I followed her, she was gone." Sayid explained.

Jack shook his head. "No, she wouldn't have left the path." He said stubbornly. He ran through the caves. "Kate? Has anyone seen Kate?" After asking everyone, refusing to believe that Kate had strayed off the path and disappeared, he finally got an answer other than a "no", but it wasn't the one he was looking for.

"Yeah, she went down towards the beach."

By now, Jack was making everyone paranoid with asking where she was in such a panicked way, that others had come over to find out whats going on. Sawyer, Locke and Charlie were suddenly asking what had happened all over again. Sayid explained it, and most of them said exactly what Jack had: Kate wouldn't have left the path.

"Wait, so you're saying Freckles wandered off the path, and vanished into thin air?" Sawyer asked. "Thats insane."

"No, I don't think she vanished." Sayid said, casting a worried look at Jack before continuing. "I think she was taken."

Jack was shaking his head. "Take me to where you last saw her." He instructed.

* * *

Just off the path, there was another, lesser path that they never used because it was a longer way to get to the beach. Locke was examining the area around it, making sure that it had been used recently. He stood from where he had been looking at the ground.

"Well?" Jack asked. "Anything?"

Locke nodded. "Footprints. Very recent, and from what I've seen before, definately Kate's, heading away from the main path." Jack sighed, running his finger through the stubble of his hair. "We can still catch her up." He assured.

They warily went off the path, Locke leading, and Jack following behind, the others tagging along beyond them, keeping their eyes open for any clues or sign of Kate. They walked for ages, following footprints, and Jack was getting more worried by the minute. Was Kate OK? What if she's been attacked, or worse? What if he lost her and the baby? Would he be able to go on here without them?

Suddenly, Locke pulled to a stop, and Jack nearly bumped into him. "Why are we stopping?" He asked.

Locke pulled out a peice of string that he used for measuring, and doubled back a few paces to where they had entered another path, and measured the size of the footprint. Frowning, he went to where he had been before and measured that track. "That's odd..." He muttered to himself.

"What's odd?"

"These tracks, they're obviously the same track, so we're still following Kate, but the footprints are getting...well, smaller." Locke explained.

"I'm no foot expert, but I'm pretty sure people's feet don't shrink that fast." Sawyer said sarcastically.

"No normally they don't." Locke continued. "My guess is they're going to keep getting smaller."

"Well," Jack said, after a few minutes silence and everyone tried to figure out what was going on. "What do you suggest?"

Locke stood up again, and looked from Jack to the track ahead of them. "We keep going, and find out what's going on."

* * *

Within another ten minutes, Charlie pointed out that the footprints were now smaller than Walt's shoes. Jack was trying to figure out a logical scientific explanation for this, but nothing was coming to him. Locke was about six paces ahead of him now, and Jack wanted to know what was going through his mind. He was about to ask him, but a laugh stopped him.

Everyone pulled to a hault, all having heard it. It wasn't a laugh they'd heard before, mainly because it sounded like it belonged to a little girl. There were no young girls on the island, not that they knew of.

"Who is that?" Charlie asked.

"Shh." Sayid said, listening carefully.

The laugh came again.

"It's coming from that direction." Jack said, pointing to their left, and running off the path.

"Jack, wait!" The others called, but he didn't stop. He heard them start to follow him, but he didn't care. He just had to find the owner of that laugh. Somehow, he felt that this would lead him to Kate.

He stopped when he reached a clearing, and saw the shape of the girl hiding behind a bush on the other side. They stared at each other for a moment, and he knew her eyes. He could have sworn he had seen them a thousand times before. The others came behind him. "Where is she?" Locke asked.

"Sh.." Jack said, pointing over to the bush, where they all saw the beady eyes poking out, watching them.

Jack got closer to her, and was halfway into the clearning before he stopped and crouched on the floor. He was the same level as the girl now, and they stared at each other like they had done before. "It's Ok. You can come out." He told her. She shifted in the bush, but didn't come out. Jack looked back to the others.

"Don't look at us." Locke said. "Let her come to you."

Jack turned back, and held out a hand. "It's all right, we're not gonna hurt you." He said, and there was more rustling in the bushes.

The little girl stepped out, and Jack smiled at the bushy haired child. "That's it. Come here." She stepped warily towards him, but then he could see that something registered in her mind and she walked quicker over to him, stopping right before his hand. She put her little hand into his, and squeezed it tight. "My name's Jack." He told her.

"I know you." She said. "I know Jack-Jack."

Jack smiled at her strange way of repeating his name as a sort of comfort name as one would do for an uncle or a family friend, but he was still confused. He had never seen this child in the three years they had been here.

"What's you're name?" He asked her.

The little girl titled her head to once side and smiled at him.

"Kate." She said, watching as the mouths of all six men dropped.


	2. Look At The Stars

**Last time on Fallen From Grace:**

_"What's you're name?" He asked her._

_The little girl titled her head to once side and smiled at him._

_"Kate." She said, watching as the mouths of all six men dropped._

**Chapter 2: Look At The Stars**

The others came up behind Jack with amazed looks on their faces. All of them crouched alongside him, forming a circle around the girl but Kate only seemed intimidated by them all and moved closer to Jack. Her hand was still holding his, and Jack had folded his over her little one, and she turned so that her back was between his crouched legs. To Locke, who was directly opposite Jack, he could see the protective stance the pair had formed.

"So that girl, is Kate?" Charlie asked wonderously.

"Kate, what is your last name?" Locke asked her, she didn't answer. She just stared at him blankly, almost frightened. Locke nodded to Jack, notioning for him to try.

"Do you know your last name, Kate?" Jack asked in a friendly whisper. Kate looked at him and nodded silently. "Can you tell me what it is?" He asked again. She nodded.

"Austen."

"Kate Austen." Jack confirmed. He looked and saw a big scrape on her arm which was bleeding slowly. "Did you hurt yourself Kate?" She nodded, and he touched her arm to look at it. She winced a little. "Don't worry, I'll fix that up for you."

"How the hell could something like this happen?" Charlie asked. "We all saw her leave for the beach like, half an hour ago, and she was, well, normal then!"

"It must have been the island." Locke said.

"Here we go with that island crap again." Sawyer said, standing up and taking a few steps back. "It's always 'the island wants something' or 'the island told me to do it'."

"I'm simply saying what's right infront of us, Sawyer." Locke said, also standing up.

"Why don't you just take a leaf out of our books and just admit that you don't have a goddamn clue what's happening on this goddamn island?" Sawyer said, raising his voice considerable.

Kate backed further into Jack and turned into him, hiding against him to block out the loud voices around her. Jack tried intervening. "Guys-"

He was cut off instantly by Sawyer yelling again. Him and Locke got into a heated arguement which Sayid, Charlie and Hurley tried to break it up. Things quickly escalated, and Jack stood up, lifing Kate with him, and shouted out: "Guys will you stop already! You're scaring her!"

They all froze and turned to see Jack standing with the minature Kate in his arms. Kate had her legs wrapped around his waist, and her arms around his neck, turning her head to the side so that both her and Jack were looking in the same direction. All the while, her head rested beneath his chin, and tickled it ever so slightly with her curly hair. Her face was withdrawn as though she had been forced to watch a horror movie by an older sibling.

Now that everyone had calmed down, Jack tried again. "Let's go back to camp."

Sawyer pointed at Kate. "What about her?"

"She's coming with us." Jack said, and without another word, he walked with Kate hanging on to him back along the path that they came from.

* * *

Back at the camp, Jack walked through to his area of the caves where his medical equipment was so that he could clean the graze on her arm before it became infected. He ignored the stares and questions of people who asked him about the girl in his arms. How could he explain when he didn't know himself? He guessed that with Sawyer and Locke the way they were as well as Hurley's inability to keep his mouth closed for ten seconds, that it would be all around the camp by the time that he had sorted Kate out.

He couldn't deny that the idea was farfetched and absurd. Was it just a coincidence that this girls name was Kate Austen? Was it all a marvellous chance that she had the same eyes, hair, and skin tone? Was it more than just a strange feeling that she was wearing smaller versions of Kate's clothes, down to a smaller version of the seashell necklace around her neck that she had made on the beach?

He sat Kate down, finally able to pry her from his arms, on a rock that was the right shape to be used as a chair. She didn't fidget as most children would, she just sat silently and watched him as he collected a bottle of peroxide, and strip of gauze. Her arm was only small, and wouldn't use much up, and knowing that kids ran around a lot, he had a sinking suspicion that if he didn't cover it, she would only come to him with dirt or a peice of twig irritating it. He crouched back down before her, and she gave him her arm.

"Jack-Jack mad at me?" She asked in a quiet, almost fearful, tone.

There was the Jack-Jack again. He wondered why she was using that, but shrugged it off. "Why would I be mad at you?" He asked her.

"I went off the path." She said, like she was admitting to spilling a drink on an expensive carpet. "I'm not supposed to do that."

Jack looked at her long and hard, if she remembered going off the path, than she must have some link with - with whatever she left behind. "I'm not mad at you, Kate." He said with a smile, and she smiled back. He held her arm carefully, and got the peroxide soaked cloth ready, before thinking twice, and looking back up at her. "Now, Kate, this is going to sting a bit, Ok?" She nodded, and Jack applied the cloth. She barely even flinched except for her eyes screwing up. He could see that it hurt her though, so he cleaned it quickly and covered it with the gauze. It was only then that she opened her eyes again. "You're a very brave girl, aren't you?" He mused aloud. She nodded again. "How old are you, Kate?"

She held up a hand with her thumb tucked it, showing four fingers in the air. "Four."

Four years old.

Jack set the peroxide and cloth down and picked Kate back up, moving her so that she was no longer sitting on the rock, but on the plane seats they used for beds instead. She sat with her legs crossed while Jack continued to sit in front of him. Before he could speak again, Sayid came into the cave. Jack stood up and went over to him.

"Jack," He began. "The survivors are questioning."

"I know." Jack said, and looked back to Kate, who was playing with her fingers and humming to herself as if they weren't there.

"What do you suggest we tell them?" Sayid asked.

Jack sighed. "I was hoping to ask you the same thing." They were silent for a moment, and then Jack caught Sayid's questioning stare at Kate. "I'm going to talk to her, see if I can figure out what happened." He informed and Sayid nodded.

"Good idea. It would appear from her behaviour in the jungle that she doesn't remember anyone besides you." Sayid said, turning to leave, but Jack's comment stopped him momentarily.

"That's what worries me."

* * *

It wasn't long before the sun started going down. Kate grew hungry, and Jack took her out to where several campfires were burning outside the caves. At once, he was flagged over by the nearest group, consisting of Charlie, Claire, Aaron, Shannon, and Sayid. He went over and sat down, and no sooner had he got comfortable had Kate crawled into his lap and huddled into a ball there. Sayid passed him some of the guava portions and he gave a small section to Kate to eat. She didn't eat it at first, just staring at it and wondering what it was. When she looked around and saw everyone else eating it, she took a wary bite, but was soon eating hungrily.

"Any luck?" Sayid asked.

Jack shook his head. Attempts at trying to figure out what had happened had been useless. "Last thing she remembers is looking back at the path and hearing us, so she ran into the bushes to play hide and seek. But she knows that she wasn't supposed to go off the path."

"Thats something at least." Charlie pointed out.

"So, this is Kate?" Shannon said, leaning in a little to get a closer look.

"Apparently so." Jack said.

"How did something like this happen?" Claire asked. "How can a fully grown woman turn into a four-year-old girl?"

"During times of trauma, some people go back to a time in their childhood where they felt safe, a way of coping with the trauma. This is only in their minds though, nothing like this can be explained by medical science." Jack explained.

"Maybe Locke was right." Charlie suggested. "Maybe it is something to with this island."

"Maybe." Jack agreed.

Shannon suddenly had a brainwave. "Hold on, there's got to be ways of seeing if it really is Kate." She said, and moved so that she was sitting before Jack, facing Kate, who had now finished eating. "You see, I remember Kate telling me that she was ticklish right about here..." She extended her hand, and tickled gently beneath her chin, and sure enough, the little girl laughed and tried to move away from the tickling.

Jack grinned. "I know where she's _really _ticklish," He said, and with a yelp of protest from Kate, he put his arms around her stomach and tickled her on her belly, which made her squeal with laughter, a fun laughter that they rarely heard from Kate.

"Jack-Jack stop!" She said through laughing. Eventually, Jack left her to stop laughing and she waited for a few moments, until she was sure that he was unprepared, and then leaned forward to tickle his feet, where Jack was equally ticklish, and he fidgeted around underneath her, before eventually lifting her off him altogether and dangling her in the air infront of him.

"Shall I let you down now?" He asked her.

"Yes!" She said, laughing again.

"Are you going to tickle me?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She surrendered, and Jack put her back into his lap. It was a lot darker and she yawned, curling up right into Jack's lap and getting in a comfortable position to sleep. Claire and Shannon both went "awww".

"Do you want to go to bed?" Jack said, dipping his head so that he didn't need to talk to loudly.

Kate shook her head. "No. Stay with Jack-Jack."

Within a few minutes, she began to drift off into sleep, and was soon fast asleep. Jack smiled at her, but Claire caught him off guard.

"Why do you worry, Jack?" She asked.

"What?" He asked.

"The baby, why do you worry about being a good father?" She repeated.

Jack thought for a moment. With all the rucass of Kate seemingly becoming a four-year-old, he had very nearly forgotten about Kate being pregnant in the first place. "I just don't want to become my father." Jack said quietly.

"Jack, look at yourself. Look at her." Claire said. "You're not like your father."

Jack smiled at her, and Claire stood with a sleeping Aaron in her arms to go to bed herself. It wasn't long before Charlie followed, and soon Shannon and Sayid disappeared to their beds. For a while, Jack stayed before the fire, watching it die down lower and lower before he felt Kate shiver in his arms and he carried her into the cave.


	3. Wildflowers

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I understand that this is a really strange storyline, and I haven't decided yet whether its going to be a dream and then happen the other way around, or it be real. Please tell me if you think either one, because I have good plans for both. This is a really short chapter, but it does start to give insight into Kate's past.  
Sam.  
xx**

Chapter 3: Wildflower

Jack awoke the next morning with the rising sun, as he always did. For once, he was not greeted by the tickling of Kate's hair against his cheek, or the rise and fall of her chest against his side. He still had his eyes closed, and wondered where she was, and then the memories of the previous day came flooding back to him. Kate going off the path...the arrival of the four year old girl...finding out that that the girl was in fact _Kate_...

Sitting up and looking around him, he was almost convinced that it was a dream. Maybe Kate was just getting some water, going for a walk. A mumbling from his side proved otherwise and he turned his head to see a sleeping, very small, Kate. She was curled around her blanket, with half the blanket draped over her and the rest being cuddled up to her by her arms while she sucked her thumb - he never would have taken Kate for a thumbsucker. The rolled up shirt that Jack had placed beneath her head last night was still there, and she looked content to be sleeping for the time being.

For a minute he just watched her, as he used to watch the adult Kate sleeping. Would this be what his daughter would look like? Would she suck her thumb, and hold the blanket to her so tightly like it would be taken away from her?

She stirred in her sleep, jerking Jack out of his thoughts, and gradually, her eyes opened. She looked around her and seemed frightened for a moment, not being able to see Jack from having her back turned away from him. He could see the workings of her mind, trying to figure out where she was, so Jack slowly put a hand out and put it on her shoulder, playing with her hair and smoothing it gently.

She didn't jump, but she crawled over and sat in his lap again. "'ello Jack-Jack." She mumbled sleepily.

"Morning, Kate." He said softly.

"Can we play today, Jack-Jack?" She asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

Jack thought for a moment. He needed to go down to the beach to take the water to Sawyer, Charlie and Sayid who had stayed down there keeping the signal fire burning - Kate could come with him for that. Then he needed to check on how a few injuries were healing, so he'd have to find something for her to do without getting into trouble then. After that, he would have been going into the jungle with her anyway to get food, but given her current position, he thought that it was best if someone else went.

"I'll tell you what," He said, turning her in his lap so that she was facing him. "I need to do a few things today, some very very important things." Kate's face fell a little bit, but Jack had a plan up his sleeve. "But, I don't think I can do it by myself. I need someone to help me."

"Who?" She asked him.

"I don't know. I need someone special, someone who can help me lots."

Kate pointed at herself. "I can help lots!" She said enthusiastically.

Jack feigned surprise. "You can?" Kate nodded eagerly. "Well then I guess we don't need to call Superman." He said, and Kate laughed. "Come on, lets go get you some breakfast."

It was only half an hour later that they were back on the path. Kate was wandering along with Jack, stopping to look at flowers, or pick up bugs, or worst of all, dart into a bush and reappear about ten feet further forwards of him. Everytime she went into a bush, he tried to lunge forward and catch her, but she was too fast for him. Eventually, he realised that she made so much noise wherever she went with her laughing that it was impossible to lose her.

She stopped skipping ahead when she saw a red flower that caught her eye in the midst of a patch of green weeds. "Jack-Jack. Look!" She said excitedly. "Can I have it?" She asked him.

Jack nodded. "On the way back, we'll pick as many as you want, but you'll lose them if you get them now." She nodded, and carried on skipping ahead. While she wasn't looking, Jack reached down and plucked the flower from the bed. Kate was humming to herself along the path before turning back to him again.

"Jack-Jack? Are you my new Daddy?" She asked.

Jack stopped walking, and stared at her for a minute, and she stared back with an equally curious look. The miniture version of the woman who was carrying his baby was asking if he was her dad. He crouched down beside Kate, and looked into her eyes. "Kate, I'm not your Daddy." Again, her face fell, and Jack inwardly sighed. "But don't you worry, Ok? I'm going to look after you, I'll keep you safe, I'll tell you stories, I'll do whatever you want me to." He assured her, tucking her hair behind her ears. He produced the red flower and put it behind her ear, her hair holding it in place and she gasped like one would at their christmas presents.

"Do you love me, Jack-Jack?" She asked him, her eyes shining.

Jack nodded, even though they were thinking of different kinds of love. "Yes, Kate."

"You must be better than my real Daddy." She said.

Jack frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked her, but she smiled and skipped ahead again, without answering his question. While Jack continued to follow her, he was left wondering, why, at the age of four, was Kate convinced that he was a better father than her real father?


	4. Welcome To Wherever You Are

When they eventually reached the beach, Kate began to be more quiet and reserved again. Jack was still worried about what she had said about her father. Charlie came straight up to Jack flinging his arms in the air dramatically.

"Finally!" He exclaimed. "You have food right?" He asked.

Jack smiled. "Yes, I have food."

"Good." Charlie said, and took the fruit that Jack had taken out of his bag.

Jack went and sat down with Sawyer and Sayid, closely followed by Kate, and sat down, giving them fruit as well. Kate, as usual, crawled into his lap. Already it was something that Jack was becoming used to.

"The morning report is as usual as ever." Sayid said. "No boats, no planes, nothing."

"Thought so." Jack replied nonchalently.

"Hows mini-freckles this morning?" Sawyer asked, waving at Kate who had been staring at him with a strange expression on her face.

"You're funny." She said, looking at him closely, particularly the glasses he was wearing for reading. She crawled out of Jack's lap, and they all recognised the look on her face that she got when she was curious and up to something. She went right up to Sawyer and stood infront of him, waiting, and then looked back to Jack who was smiling, and as quick as a flash, she stole Sawyer's glasses and ran across the sandy beach with them.

"Why you little- Hey! Come back here!" He said, and was soon up on his feet chasing after her.

Jack turned to Sayid and Charlie. "She mentioned something a few minutes ago." He told her, and explained what Kate had said about her father.

"So she wants you to be her father?" Charlie asked.

Jack shook his head. "I told her that I wasn't, but that I was going to look after her. So she said that I was better than her real Dad. What does that mean?"

"Obviously she has an awkward or frightening relationship with her father." Sayid said. "If she feels, at the age of four, that she is not loved, then it is very bad indeed."

Jack stared out across the sands to where she was still running circles around her. She was smiling, laughing loudly, truly happy. "How can someone not love their own child?" He muttered to himself. "That's disgusting."

Sayid laughed to himself. "That, my friend, is why you will be a good father when the time comes." He said.

Jack nodded. "I hope so."

He looked again at Kate and Sawyer. Sawyer was genuinely having trouble catching her. Finally, she stopped, and stood still while he advanced on her, and he was about to scoop her up and reclaim his glasses when she darted between his legs and he fell over face first in the sand. They all laughed, especially Kate, who ran back over to Jack and hid in his lap when Sawyer stood up to get revenge.

"I see the old Kate is still in her." Sayid laughed. "She hasn't changed that much."

Trudging back along the path, Kate, again ran ahead, until she decided she was too tired to walk anymore. She kept walking slower, and slower, no longer darting into bushes; until: "Jack-Jack? Carry?"

Sawyer turned his head to stiffle a laugh, covering it with a badly faked cough. Jack rolled his eyes at Sawyer, and lifted Kate off the ground and into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and her arms around his neck. Over Jack's shoulder, she frowned at Sawyer, and poked her tongue out at him. Sawyer dropped his jaw.

"Did you see that?" He asked everyone.

"See what?" Charlie asked.

"She stuck her tongue out at me!" He whined.

Everyone looked at Kate, who shook her head. Jack sighed. "Sawyer, really, who's the four year old now?"


	5. Behind These Hazel Eyes

That night, back at camp, it was common knowledge to the whole camp about the mysterious arrival of the four year old, and who she was. People seemed panicky about the idea of people being turned into children, and demanded answers. Why? When? How? None of these were any Jack could answer for, after all, there was no medical explanation for any of it. It had just happened.

"It was the island." Locke told him aside when Jack had taken Kate away from the group that had met him after they had been to collect some fruit. Kate had seemed almost frightened by the stampede of people who wanted to see if it was true.

"Excuse me?" Jack said, not slowing down his walk, and not turning to look at him. He went over to the campfire where Sayid, Shannon, Claire, Charlie and Aaron sat, as he did every night, and sat down, setting Kate next to him only for her to crawl straight back into his lap, as she always did.

"The island. This has happened for a reason." Locke repeated. Charlie looked at him for a moment and then shook his head to himself, going back to his food and stopping Aaron from eating a rather large bug he had taken an interest in.

"Locke, I know some strange things happen here, but this-" He nodded down to Kate, "-Is more than just the island."

"Do you have a more logical explaination?" Locke asked, sitting down uninvited. Jack was silent.

"Well, what's you idea?" Claire asked.

"Kate was pregnant." Jack held back from congratulating Locke on stating the obvious. "Were you nervous, Jack? Frightened?"

Jack's head snapped up from where he was looking down at Kate protectively. "What?"

"About being a father? You were scared, weren't you?" Locke analysed. "You were scared about not being a good father, not being able to raise a child properly."

Jack frowned. "Now hold on a minute, Locke. You can't just assume that-"

"So you weren't scared then?" Locke interrupted. Jack, again, fell silent and returned his gaze to Kate, who was sitting humming to herself and watching Aaron trying to reclaim his bug. "Everything that has happened here has happened for a reason, Jack. You can't deny that. What if you were so worried about fatherhood that the island changed Kate to prove to you that you could be a good carer for a child?"

Hadn't Kate said that very morning that he was better than her father? Jack considered this for a moment, but said nothing, and Locke walked away. Claire waited to see if anyone else was going to speak first, but no one did.

"You know, Locke might be right." She said hesitantly.

All heads snapped towards her except those of the preoccupied children.

Shannon frowned. "You can't be serious!" Even though it had been a few years since she had lost Boone, she still had trust issues with Locke, which had not improved with time, only deepened the gap between them.

"Think about it, being worried about being a parent is a natural thing." Claire began. "I had it, Thomas had it, even Charlie had it. It's a big change and no one can be fully confident on that. No one else has had the time to adjust to it while being on the island like Kate and Jack, so perhaps this is a way of assuring them that they're going to be all right."

Jack smiled. "I hope you're right with that, Claire."

Charlie smirked. "Trust me, the woman's never wrong." And Claire elbowed him in the ribs lightly, although Charlie dramatically fell backwards and pretended to be fatally wounded.

Unlike the night before, Kate refused to fall asleep, even when Aaron had fallen asleep an hour before. Jack himself was tired, the younger Kate wearing him out in the day more than the regular Kate did, and although Shannon and Claire offered to watch Kate while he went off to bed, Jack shook his head, insisting that he was fine to stay awake with her. There was a long silence afterwards where everyone just sat comfortably, but all of a sudden, Kate snapped her head up from where she had rested in on Jack's shoulder, and she looked behind him.

"What's the matter?" Jack asked, turning with her to see what she was looking at. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. Kate only frowned, but not at Jack, rather in the direction she was looking in. Her eyes didn't budge from the spot, and she jumped out of Jack's reach quicker then he could get a steady hold on her, and crept over to the edge of the clearing. "Kate?"

Seeing as she was within the light of the campfires still, and she was still in the campsite, only skirting on the edge of the trees, Jack didn't stand up, but he made sure he was in a good position to leap up as soon as he needed to. Kate just stood on the edge of the trees, as if she was waiting for something. She stood there for a few minutes.

"What's she doing?" Shannon asked.

"I don't know." Jack said, getting up, and going over to her. He crouched beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders to steady himself. "What are you looking at, Kate?" He asked her, and she shook her head.

"Nothin'." She answered casually. Then she fell silent again. Jack looked into the darkness, he couldn't see anything either, and was about to stand up, and lead her back to camp when she spoke again. "Can't you hear them?" Kate asked fearfully, scooting right against him, clutching his shirt into her balled up hand.

"Hear what?" Jack asked, concerned with the look of undoubted terror on her face, mixed with curiosity and confusion. Jack strained his ears, but heard nothing.

"Them." She said again.

Jack turned her so that she had her back to the clearing, tearing her eyes away from whatever held her gaze. She stared at him deeply, the look not disappearing as it used to when she looked at him, and this worried Jack. "Kate, what can you hear?" She didn't answer, only leaned forward, holding onto him tightly for comfort. "Kate, come on, sweetie, what did you hear?" He asked. Jack was too concerned to even realise that he had called her 'sweetie', something he had only called her when she was an adult.

She moved so that rather than her head being hidden in his shoulder, she could speak into his ear. Her voice was wavering as she said lowly. "Whispers."


	6. Deep Cuts The Night

If Kate wasn't wide awake before, she most definately wasn't now. Jack had picked her up seeing as she was adament on not moving, and carried her back to where he sat. He didn't even attempt to move her from his lap, or to remove her head from the part of flesh where his neck met his shoulder. Here it was: Kate, terrified. Her whole body was trembling, and her eyes were wide whenever he craned his neck to see. Her tiny hands had made fists so tight that her knuckles where white.

Whispers had not been heard for at least two years, which is why it came as such a shock to the others. Charlie was sure that it can't have been true, until Claire had intervened by asking him why a four year old would lie. Jack knew what was happening though: The Others were back, and they were back for Kate.

Eventually, Jack knew that Kate was uncomfortable in the position of half sitting, half standing, and he moved her so that she was sitting as she usually was, but she quickly balled up and clung onto him.

"Jesus Christ," Charlie exhaled. "She's pale and everything."

Looking down, Jack saw that Charlie was right, Kate's face had gone deathly pale. He pretended to be playing with her hair for a moment so that he could take her pulse, and just as he suspected, it was racing way above its usual rhythm. There was only one diagnosis Jack could make, and that was pure, undetered fear.

But what could he do? He knew that he had a terrible bedside manner, and people were always telling him, so how could he comfort this child? He looked at Claire at a loss, and she shook her head. "No, Jack." She said. "She needs you."

Jack sighed. "What do I do?" The others could see that Jack was truly helpless. He wanted to help Kate so much, but didn't know what to do for her. It would have been easier if, like before, all she needed was an arm around her shoulder, or an embrace with a kiss to make her feel at ease, but Jack had been embracing this little girl for an hour and she had not calmed down. The fact that her pulse was so racy after an hour was only adding to his worry. He needed to help her before she got sick.

"Comfort her." Claire answered. "She needs to know that everything's going to be fine, and she needs to hear it from you."

Jack was silent for a moment, and then looked down at Kate again. Claire was right, she needed to hear it from him. She was staring at the fire as though watching a movie in it's flames, entranced, but not truthfully seeing it really. Her head was rested gently on Jack's chest, so that her whole face was lit up with the glow of the fire, and from the orange cast shadow, he could see the tears brimming in her eyes. One of them felll down her cheek as if on impluse, and Jack felt his heart hitch for a moment.

"Kate." He said, and moved so that he turned her round in his lap. Now she was facing directly at him. One of his arms was behind her back, and she leaned back against it, not making eye contact with him. She was looking down at her lap now that she couldn't see the fire, but Jack could still see that two more tears had fallen, and more were set to come. He leaned his arm to wipe the tears away with his thumbs. "Are you ok?"

_Way to ask a stupid question, Jack. Of course she isn't. _But Kate didn't answer anyway. Not even a nod, or a shake of the head. Jack pushed some of her loose hair behind her ear. "Hey, it's all right." He told her in a softer voice, not much more than a whisper. He knew that everyone else present had their eyes on the pair, but he didn't care. "It's Ok, you're safe." He said.

She shook her head. "Whispers said stuff." She said.

"What did they say, Kate?" Jack asked. She didn't say anything. "It's Ok, you can tell me." He assured her.

"Whispers said Kate was a bad girl. Had to be punished. Had to go away with voices forever." She said. "Don't want to go with voices Jack-Jack. I want to stay here with you." More tears fell, and Jack scooped them up as he had the last ones, but they kept coming, so he stood her up, and wrapped his arms around her, feeling hers link around his neck. Again, she clung tightly, fearfully, so Jack held her tightly back, rubbing her back and stroking her hair.

"Don't worry, you're staying right here." Jack assured her. "I'm going to look after you, Ok? I'm going to make sure that you're safe." Kate pulled away from him and he looked into her eyes, seeing the unshed tears still buried in them. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He whispered in a promise. She nodded, and then hugged him again. Over her shoulder, Jack caught Claire's eye, and she smiled at him.

Kate slept very little that night, as almost every time she fell asleep she would wake up screaming about the 'voices' coming to take her away. Every time she woke up Jack would be ready, making sure that she knew that she was safe, and he had lost count of the times he had said "it's just a dream".

When the sun came up, Jack was sitting against the cave wall with Jack draped over his lap. She was finally asleep, and seeing as she was no longer stirring regularly, Jack had taken the opportunity to get some sleep himself. It had only been for an hour or so though, and he had taken to watching the colours of the sky changing as the sun rose. At one point during the night, when Kate had woken up, he had sat in that very spot with her, and pointed out the stars to her, and she had sat staring at them with awe filled eyes as she went back to sleep.

"Hear you had a rough night last night."

Jack looked up to see Sawyer coming into the cave and leaning against the wall. He chose not to elaborate on that statement. "Can I help you, Sawyer?" Jack asked.

"Nah, I'm just here on Claire's call." He said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder towards the direction of Claire, who was feeding Aaron. Jack raised an eyebrow in question. "She wants a break, so I'm taking the kid off her hands for a few hours, she said I should ask you as well, says you could do with the sleep."

Jack thought for a moment, with Kate being as scared as she was, was it wise to leave her with Sawyer? But then he reminded himself of how good Sawyer was with Aaron. Whenever Aaron was upset, it only took a story or a game from Sawyer for him to forget all about it. Maybe that was just what Kate needed - something to take her mind off it. She'd probably enjoy Aaron's company as well, as Jack had seen Aaron watching her strangely, welcoming the other youngster into the camp, and it would be good for Aaron to have someone his own age around, even if it was only temporarily. It was perfectly clear how much fun Kate had the previous morning running circles around Sawyer. Who knew? Maybe if she ran enough circles around him, the three would tire themselves out, and Kate and Aaron would sleep the whole night through, and Sawyer wouldn't have the energy to be annoying in the evening.

"You have any idea what you're letting yourself in for?" Jack asked with a cocky grin.

"I know." Sawyer said. "I've already experienced her idea of fun on the beach yesterday. If little Freckles is anything like that, then I've got a back-up plan." He said.

"What back-up plan?"

Sawyer grinned devilishly. "A little game called Blind Man's Buff." He said, and Jack rolled his eyes. "Last time I had Aaron doing it he was walking into trees all day. Slept well that night."

Sawyer left the cave, and Jack shook his head. He felt sorry for Sawyer thinking he could control Kate with a peice of fabric. She used to have eyes in the back of her head, and they were probably still there. In fact, it wouldn't surprise Jack at all if Sawyer ended up being blindfolded.


	7. Everything She Needs

Kate woke up without a word about the previous night, but when moving around the camp that morning, she kept glancing suspiciously at the trees, and stayed well away from them. In her mind, she had figured out that if she stayed away from them, then there was no way she could hear the whispers, so instead, she stayed close to Jack, and when she wasn't with Jack, she was with Shannon or Claire.

Sawyer was beginning to regret his decision to take Kate as well as Aaron. Aaron could be easily occupied with a story, or a little game, but Kate grew restless quickly, or at least, the old Kate did, and he didn't know whether he was prepared to deal with the same old Kate in a smaller body and quicker mobility - especially when she now had the whole camp on her side in their disputes. He was starting to think that introducing Kate to a game of blindfolds and rope was also a bad idea, and he had visions of himself blind and immobile, whilst being pelted with rocks. No, that was just his imagination getting the better of him. She was only four-years-old. What could she possibly do?

Kate sat on the ground, playing with the little beetle she had picked off of a log. She had put it on the ground before her, and everytime it tried to scatter away, she was blocking it with her hands, so it had to try another way, and she blocked that. Soon, Aaron came and sat down with her, having wandered away from Claire, and blocked off the other means of escape. They chattered to themselves in a strange language that no one else could decipher, but apparently both children knew fluently.

Claire came over to Jack, who was just putting away the gauze that he hadn't needed for patching up someone's arm.

"Hey, Claire, anything I can help you with?" Jack said, continuing to put away the peroxide, and putting a few peices of cloth into a pile that Sun was taking down to wash later on.

"No, but I want to show you something." She said, and he looked up at her. "Come on." She said, as if she was talking to Aaron, and walked out of the cave. Jack sighed, now she was a mother to Aaron, she felt like she was mother to everyone, despite being the youngest adult there, and Jack knew better than to argue with her when she spoke like that.

He followed her out of the cave, his attempts at cleaning up abandoned, and into the centre of the camp, and then off to the side of it, right into a secluded corner beneath an overhang on rock from the caves. By now, Jack could hear childish giggling, and when they crouched down beside some bushes, the pair could see Aaron and Kate, still playing with the bug, and laughing happily at it, beneath the overhang, which shielded them from all the others.

"See." Claire said. "I told you you'd like it." She added with an air of triumph, but then started to smile sweetly at her son. Jack didn't even think to tell her that she hadn't said that last part, because he was too busy watching Kate, smiling, laughing, not a care in the world other than that bug at her mercy.

"I can tell you'll be a good Dad." Claire said.

Jack smirked, it was always Claire who brought up that subject. "How'd you figure that?" He asked her, knowing that she was going to tell him whether he asked her or not.

"Because you've got that look on your face." She stated, not taking her eyes off of Aaron to even give his face a glance.

Jack looked confused from her to Kate. "What look?" He said.

"That look." She said, finally peeling her eyes off of her son and nodding at him.

"What look?" He asked again with a defensive laugh.

"The same look that Charlie has when he watches Aaron." Claire explained. "He knows that he's not Aaron's real father, but when Aaron calls him Dad, there's a light in his eyes, and you can see from his face that there's nowhere else he'd rather be, nothing else he'd rather be doing. You can tell that he'd face the world before he lets anything happen to him. That look."

Jack smiled, and turned back to Kate, just in time to see her pick the bug up and swallow it. In the few seconds before it disappeared down her throat while Aaron squealed with delight, Jack and Claire both rushed over. "NO!" But it was too late.

Jack checked inside her mouth, but the bug was already gone. He grimaced as she grinned and turned to Claire. "How long was it before Aaron brought his bug back up?" He asked Claire, knowing that one way or another, Kate's body would get rid of the beetle.

"I'll put money on just when you've sat down this evening." She smiled cheekily. She picked Aaron up and took him back to the main camp, and Jack sighed at Kate, who looked very proud with herself.

"What am I going to do with you?" He said to himself, before following Claire's example and taking Kate back to camp.


	8. Breakout

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely."

"Are you definate?"

"Only fools are definate, Jack-ass."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Definately."

It was a few seconds of Kate and Jack's laughing before Sawyer realised that he'd been caught out on his own joke. Shaking his head, he sighed.

"Come on, Freckles. Party time." He said. He already had Aaron standing on on side of him, ready and raring to go, but Kate was proving another matter. She had been excited about going all morning, but now that it was time to go, she wanted to stay.

"No." She said stubbornly, holding fast to Jack's neck. "Stay with Jack-Jack."

"Kate," Jack said.

"No!" She repeated.

"Come on, Uncle Sawyer." Aaron said impatiently, tugging on Sawyer's hand in the direction of the beach. "Wanna play now."

"Hang on, kid. We gotta wait for Kate." Sawyer explained.

"Kate, you'll have fun playing with Sawyer." Jack said.

"Want to have fun with you." She said.

"I'm sorry, Kate, but I'm very very busy today."

She looked up at him. "I can help!" She said, remembering how she had helped him yesterday.

Jack sighed. "Sorry, sweetie, this is grown-ups stuff."

Kate pouted. "Hate being little. I want to be a grown-up." She said to herself. Jack and Sawyer couldn't help seeing the irony of her statement, and while Sawyer rolled his eyes with a grin, it made Jack feel quite sad.

He had an idea, and leaned close to Kate's ear, whispering in it. "Kate? How about, you play with Sawyer, and tonight, I'll do whatever you want me to do." He said, and she stopped frowning.

"Will you tell me and Aaron a story?" She asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, yeah I will. What story do you want?"

"One about princesses and dragons and princes." She said.

Jack nodded. "Ok, I'll tell you that story later, and you go play with Sawyer this afternoon, yeah?"

She still looked unsure. So Jack tried to elaborate on that.

"Hey, go on, you can do whatever you want to Sawyer, play some tricks on him." He suggested, and Kate smiled devilishly. "That's my girl, go have fun." He said.

Kate gave him a kiss on the cheek before bounding over to Sawyer, and practically dragging him down the path to the beach. Jack stood up, and bumped into Claire and Shannon, who were standing with folded arms and raised eyebrows. "What?" He asked.

They grinned. "Nothing, Daddy." They said sweetly.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Do I dare ask for your help?" He asked.

"Depends what with." Shannon said.

"Kate wants a story about dragons, princesses and princes." Jack explained.

An hour later, Jack went back to the cave ready to sleep, with the story on his mind that Shannon and Claire had helped him come up with. In the end, it had become more like a show than a story, which hopefully would be more entertaining for the kids. As he drifted off to sleep, he could only imagine what trouble Kate was getting into...


	9. Footsteps Following Me

"Sawyer come on!"

"Hurry up!"

"Run faster!"

"You're too slow!"

"Come on, we want to get to the beach!"

Sawyer stopped and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. How did a three and a four year old get to be faster that him? Aaron never ran this fast, but now he was running just as fast as Kate was, and didn't even look tired. _Never mind, just tire them out and do it quickly. _After all, he had been given an official task that afternoon: Operation Tire Kate Out.

Tiring Kate out so far had proved to be a long and troublesome task. Sawyer had taken on that challenge, thinking he could break the girl with what he had planned. Everyone else had warned him - constantly. But he had laughed them off. She was just a kid, after all. What could she possibly do?

When they got to the beach, "Finally!" Kate had said, they ran and played in the sand straight away. Sawyer knew to keep them away from the water, seeing as neither of them could swim, especially not strong enough to swim in the sea anyway, which was actually looking quite rough in the high tide. He slumped down beside them as they started to make sandcastles, allowing himself to catch his breath, knowing that there would be need for it soon. He realised

Strangely, they made a sandcastle for around an hour, at Sawyer's guess, but they soon got restless, and Sawyer conducted races between the two along the beach, using an obstactle course he had made when they were playing in the sand.

"Right." he said, using a large stick to draw a line the best he could on the floor. "This is the starting line." He told them. "There's another line between those two trees at the top of the beach. That's the finish line." He pointed with the stick towards the trees on their right. "Before you get to the finish line, you have to do an obstacle course."

Aaron cocked his head to one side. "Whats an obsticy course?" He asked Kate, who shrugged.

"An obstacle course is like an army training course." Sawyer explained.

"Oh!" Kate said. "My Daddy's in the army!" She told Aaron.

"Thats right." Sawyer said. "Has your Dad ever built you one of these?" He asked her. She shook her head. "Right, well, I'll talk you through this one. First off, you have to run through the sticks without touching any of them." He pointed to a collection of sticks he had randomly scattered on the ground with gaps in between them - kind of a substitute for tires. "Then you run up to these big sticks. You have one each, and you have to jump either side of them like this." He showed them, and then went onto a peice of tarp he had draped over the floor. "Then you get on your bellies, and crawl underneath this. Then, when you get to the otherside, you run around that rock over there, and then you run over to the finish line. The first one who gets over the line wins. You understand?"

Both children nodded, and Sawyer grinned. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Set?"

"Set."

"Go!"

Both of them took of rather fast. Aaron fell behind on the sticks, as he stepped on one and had to go through them again. Kate was already underneath the tarp by the time he had got onto to the larger stick. He jumped slowly, about half the speed as Kate had bounded over it. Sawyer was sure she had done something like this before. She seemed to be a natural at it. When she got to the rock, and turned around there was a split second when she saw how far behind Aaron was, and she stopped, pretending to trip and fall in the sand. Now Aaron was a fast crawler, and by the time she had gotten back on her feet he had got out of the tarp and was back in competition mode.

They ran together, neck and neck to the finish line, and both crossed it - at the same time. Sawyer, who was waiting at the finish line, clapped for them. They kept on racing all afternoon. "Well done, guys, it was a draw." Sawyer announced hours later.

"What?" Aaron asked.

"It was a draw. A tie. It means that you both won because you both won the same amount of races."

"Oh."

Sawyer was about to speak again when he heard a branch snap in the jungle he had his back to. Thinking that it was probably just Jack checking up on him, he shook his head. "Right. Who's up for round fifteen?" He asked, and they both babbled and cheered. "That's a yes then." They went back over to the starting line, and as they walked over, Kate stopped walking and grabbed onto Sawyer's leg. "What's the matter, Freckles?"

"Sawyer. Who's that?"

Sawyer turned around to see what she was looking at. Emerging from the trees was a woman. A woman with dark hair, long, unkept and straggles, with that same old constantly confused face, as if she hadn't quite known what was going on around her. As usual, she had that old gun with her. Sawyer frowned when she spotted them. Every now and again, Danielle would make an appearance, trying to get near Aaron, mainly just watching him, asking to hold him or play with him. After she had kidnapped him and tried to take him to the Others though, Claire, Charlie and Jack all had stressed the fact over and over again that when Danielle turned up, Aaron was taken away from her. There had been too many encounters of her trying to lure the child away from camp for any risks to be taken. To a certain extent, they could understand that she just wanted her own baby back, but they weren't sure whether she realised that her baby would be 19 years old now, not the baby she wanted.

"Sawyer?" Kate asked again. "Sawyer, who's that lady?"

"Someone you aren't to go near." Sawyer said seriously. He turned his head to where Aaron was standing on the starting line, waiting for Kate. "Aaron! Get over here!" He called to him.

Aaron knew from the seriousness in Sawyer's voice that he shouldn't argue, and ran as fast as he could over to Sawyer, who instantly lifted the boy, settling him on his hip. He kept his arm on Kate's shoulder, making sure that she didn't move. He looked down at her. "Stay with me." He told her, and she nodded.

Danielle was walking towards them. Sawyer didn't move an inch. When she saw the children, she lower the gun, particularly as it was scaring Aaron from the look on his face. He knew that this was the woman who tried to take him away. "Don't let her take me." He whispered, putting his arms tightly around Sawyer's neck, and making sure that Kate didn't hear him being scared.

"Don't worry, kid, you're not going anywhere with her." Sawyer muttered to him, and Aaron nodded.

She stopped about ten feet away from them. "You...you're Sawyer, aren't you?" She asked.

"What the hell do you want?" He asked, his voice sounding dangerously angry.

"The boy...he's grown so much. How old is he now?" She asked him.

"What are you doing here?" Sawyer asked her again.

"Please, I just want to -" She reached out and Aaron hid himself away against Sawyer. Sawyer automatically stepped to the side making sure that Aaron was well out of reach. Danielle's face fell when she saw this reaction, but her eyes lit up curiously when she saw Kate, who stared right back at her. "A girl?" She whispered to herself, but then she trailed into her own train of thought, speaking to herself. "There was no girl before, has someone had another child? But she is older than the boy. Wise beyond her years. She has those eyes, like Alex's. Curious."

"What do you want, Rousseau?" Sawyer asked, louder this time, not liking Danielle's comparing of Kate to her kidnapped child.

"Who is the girl?" She asked, holding out her arms, beckoning Kate to her.

"Sawyer..." Kate said in a frightened whisper.

"Stay here, Kate." He instructed firmly, pushing her gently behind him. "It's Ok." Again, she nodded, and held onto his leg again. Sawyer was glad, because then he knew that she wasn't wandering off.

"Leave, Rousseau." Sawyer said. "If Claire finds out you've come to see the kid again then they'll all come looking for you. You know that."

"They'll never find me." She smirked confidently. "It was the island, wasn't it?" She said. Sawyer frowned at her. "The girl. The island changed her. Am I right?"

Sawyer looked around, the sun was setting. He didn't want to be talking to Danielle when he knew that Aaron and Kate were both scared of her, but if she knew something about why Kate was four years old, they had to know it. "What do you know about it?"

"The others." Danielle said. "They will come for her. They will take her from you." Kate's grip tightened around Sawyer's leg, and Sawyer put a hand on her head to try and calm her down. "It will be like always," She said, almost with an air of happiness. "First the whispers, then the shadows, then one day, you'll wake up, and she'll be gone forever."

With that, Danielle turned and walked off, leaving Sawyer standing on the beach with the two children. "Come on," He said, taking Kate's hand and keeping Aaron on his hip. "Let's go home."

**It's all fun and games with a four-year-old Kate until Danielle shows up. Well, now that the story is taking a darker tone, what do you think? I hope that it's still good for everyone. But don't worry, the next chapter won't be too tragic, remember, Jack still has to give Kate and Aaron their story :D Please review, because I've yet to decide the story he's telling them yet. So if you review with suggestions, I promise that I will work every suggestion into Jack's Story :D**


	10. Colour My World

When the three got back to the caves, Claire was there to meet them. "You took your time." She said, but was smiling at how tired Aaron looked. "Was he all right for you?" She asked, taking him from around Sawyer's neck. "Hey sweetie." She said to him as he locked his arms around her instead.

Sawyer nodded. "Yeah, he was fine. It's the goddamn French Chick that keeps popping up that isn't fine." He said grumpily.

He watched Claire's look of horror. "She came back again?" She asked exasperated.

Sawyer nodded. "Don't worry. We saw her coming. She didn't get anywhere near him." He assured, and her face showed a bit more relief. He looked down at Kate who was still holding his hand. "She seemed more interested in Freckles after she noticed her, though."

Claire sighed. "Jack's over with Hurley." She said, nodding her head towards where Jack was filling up a water bottle.

Sawyer nodded and went over. Kate saw Jack, and started squirming free of Sawyer's hand until he let go and she ran over. "Jack-Jack!" She said excitedly, jumping into his arms when he turned to greet her call. He fell back into a sitting position before standing back up with her.

"Hey, have fun?" He asked her as Sawyer came up to them with that grumpy look on his face.

"Yeah. It was great! We did an obstacle course!" Kate said.

"Jack." Sawyer interrupted. Jack looked at him, knowing that it was serious because Sawyer had used his real name for once without adding something to make it insulting or annoying. Hurley noticed this look and made himself scarce. "She came again." He said, once he was sure that Hurley was out of ear shot.

"Who?"

"Danielle."

Jack frowned. "What did she want?" He asked.

"As usual. She wanted to see Aaron. To play with him or whatever weird-o creepy stuff she thinks is fun. Then she saw Freckles." Sawyer said, pointing limply at her. "Gave us a warning."

"A warning?" Jack asked. "You mean that you of all people are taking her seriously?" No one took Danielle seriously anymore. All her warnings about the others coming were either too late, or months too early, and whenver she showed up someone always got hurt.

"I'm serious. I think she was talking sense this time. She knew about Kate. About what happened." Sawyer explained.

"How could she know that?"

"She said the Others would come for her." Sawyer said. Jack's eyes darkened considerably as he held onto Kate protectively now.

"Who's coming for who?" Sayid asked, comnig over to join them.

"Your little crazy French friend said that The Others are coming to get Freckles here." Sawyer explained.

"Rousseau came back?"

"Yeah, and apparently she's not the only one intending to pay us a visit." He said.

"Hold on a minute, Sawyer." Jack intervened. "We don't know what she said is true."

"What did she say?" Sayid asked

"First the whispers, then the shadows, then you wake up, and she's gone forever." Sawyer recited. "And correct me if I'm wrong. But the whispers were heard last night."

There was silence for a moment, until Kate was the one who broke it, in a heartbreakingly innocent yet pained voice that made Jack sigh heavily.

"Jack-Jack? Are the whispers going to take me away?"

He kissed the top of her head. "No." He said. "No, they're not. I promise."

Sawyer glared at Jack. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Doc. You should know what happens to anyone who tries to stop the Others from taking someone." He said, refering to all the other survivors that had died at their hands. He stalked away, and Jack held Kate closer with a dark thought on his mind. Surely Sawyer wouldn't make it easier for the Others to get to her? Of course not, his mind told him, after all, Sawyer had just protected Kate from Danielle. As much of a jerk he could be sometimes, even he had a soft spot for kids, and an even bigger soft spot for Kate, so Kate as a child should, in theory, be a big concern for him.

"Jack-Jack?"

He looked into Kate's confused eyes as she twirled a bit of hair between her fingers. "Come on," He said softly, bouncing her a little. "Dinner time."

* * *

After Kate and Aaron had eaten, they set up a fire, and place the two children infront of it, sitting on blankets. Jack had spent most of the afternoon planning this, and so it wasn't long before both of the kids were in the mood for a story. Shannon had agreed to help him out, as had Sawyer in the end. After a few hours of preparing, Jack had managed to convince Shannon, Rose, Sawyer, Charlie, and Sayid to help him. However, by the time that they were getting ready, everyone else knew, and Walt and Michael decided to watch it for something to do, Claire sat with the two children; Hurley wanted to watch Sawyer embarass himself; Sun and Jin were just there for something to do as well, and it soon became that evening's island entertainment - which Shannon had mentioned would mean some improvising - and Jack had replied that the whole thing was based on improvising.

When their audience was finally ready, the all star cast took bows. "Ok, guys," Jack started. "Before we embarass ourselves extremely, I'd like to remind you that this was not our idea, so if something goes wrong and we all look like asses - Blame Kate." He pointed at Kate, who laughed. "And I'd also like to point out to the older members of the audience, that contrary to popular belief, we're making this up as we go along."

And with that, the story started, with the agreed helpers playing the parts that they had decided about twenty minutes ago. Jack was the hero, as Kate had mentioned determinedly that he _had _to be the hero, and that he _didn't _get a choice about it, and was then backed up by Aaron, much to Jack's distate, as he had hoped that Aaron would back Charlie up, and then he would get out of the acting that he really didn't want to embarass himself with. Shannon had come up with the idea of Princess Kate, with Rose playing her wicked mother. Sayid made up the rest of Prince Jack's rescue team, with Sawyer having been bribed with a remaining bottle of alcohol to pretend to be a dragon. From the look on his face at that moment in time, it was clear that acting wouldn't be too hard.

Fortunately, Jack had one card up his sleeve. He had asked Charlie to be the narrator, or story-man as Aaron called him. This meant that Jack didn't need to worry about making things up himself - because Charlie was going to do it for him, with Shannon's help.

"Now, kids, are you ready?" Charlie asked.

"Yes." They called back.

"No?" Charlie asked dramatically, pretending to mishear them. He called over to Jack. "Sorry, Jack, they don't want to hear the story..."

"No! We do! We do!" They protested.

"What's that!"

"Tell us the story!" Kate shouted over everyone's laughing.

"Right. Well, the story starts..."

"No!" The kids shouted out.

"What now?" Charlie asked.

"You're not doing it right." Aaron said.

Kate backed him up. "It's 'Once upon a time...'" She corrected him.

Charlie sighed. "Ok. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Princess called Kate." He said, and Kate giggled. The others began to go along with Charlie as he spoke from his rock he had picked out to sit on. "She lived in the wonderful kingdom of...uh...Jungle Land...yeah, Jungle Land. She lived with her mother, who was an evil Queen! One day, when Princess Kate was still very tiny, she locked her up in a tower." The kids gasped. "She stayed there all on her own, and to make sure that no one went to let her free, her mother put a big, nasty, huge, dragon in front of the tower." When no sound came, Charlie looked back at Sawyer who was sitting down at the base of the rock that Shannon sat on. "_Sawyer!_" He hissed.

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "Roar." He said pathetically, playing with a stick on the ground as he sat cross legged.

"_Sawyer!" _the rest of them said.

"Roar!" He said louder, very irritable.

Knowing that this was as co-operative as Sawyer was going to be, Charlie continued. "Now, the dragon stayed at the bottom of the tower all day, and all night, and anyone that came to free Princess Kate got gobbled up by the dragon!" Charlie said.

"No!" Kate protested. "Not the dragon!" and Aaron clapped his hands together gleefully.

"So Princess Kate lived alone in the tower, with the dragon keeping watch. Until one day, when Kate was much older, a brave Prince came into the kingdom..." Shannon said, and Jack cut her off by clearing his throat. "Sorry, a brave and _handsome _Prince called Jack came to the kingdom. He had heard about poor Princess Kate and had decided to rescue her."

"Yay!" Kate said, and Jack held up his long stick that he was using for a sword.

"But the evil queen sent a messenger man ahead, and told the dragon that when the Prince came he had to gobble him up like the rest of them." The look of horror on Kate's face at the idea of Jack getting eaten was rather amusing, and Claire smoothed her hair as she would to Aaron when he got scared. "But Prince Jack didn't care! So he took his faithful friend...um...Lord...uh...Sayid...to go and rescue Princess Kate."

Charlie and Shannon were becoming stuck for ideas already, and Charlie turned his head at Jack with a look that said it all. Jack indicated for him to keep going. "So...er...they went to find the Princess...and..." Charlie was struck with an idea. He leaned in close to the kids. "Do you know what happened next?" He asked them. They shook their heads. "Go on, guess." He encouraged.

"They had their dinner?" Aaron said.

"No, the Prince had taken a sacred vow that he would never eat again until he had found the Princess." Charlie said. "Nor would he sleep, or drink."

"You should always drink lots, otherwise you get dehydrated." Kate said. "Jack-Jack told me."

Charlie mentally added himself to the list of people that had been corrected by Kate within the last few days. Jack called over. "That's my girl." And Kate gave him a thumbs up, which he returned.

"Well, he was allowed to drink some water," Charlie said. "Now, come on, you still haven't guessed."

"Did they find a boat, and go on a river, and get chased by a big mean fish?" Aaron asked.

"No."

"Did they fight a polar bear?"

"No."

"Did a pink panda called Lola run through the woods and steal all the wood before the wood chuck could chop wood?" Kate asked innocently, as if it were a completely normal situation.

Some laughed. Some cried with laughed. Others, like Charlie, stared blankly at her. "Uhhh...No. But I'll tell you what they did do." Charlie said. "They came to a long bridge with a big big hole underneath it." Charlie stood up, and connected a long plank of thick wood between two rocks. Sawyer looked at it strangely, then got bored, and picked up another twig. "Now, the Prince Jack and Lord Sayid walked across the bridge..." Nothing happened. "I said: They wallked across the bridge..." Charlie repeated, louder, and Jack and Sayid stood up to get on the plank of wood and start slowly walking across it. "They were only halfway across when - "

Sawyer had a brain wave, saw an opportunity, and took it, flying into action. "When the dragon jumped up and pulled the Prince off the bridge!"

Jack had only a split seconds realisation before Sawyer's hand connected round his ankle and tugged it swiftly. He fell from the log, which was only a few feet, but it made him land on Sawyer. Everyone laughed, with Kate and Aaron nearly in tears from laughing so hard. Kate stopped laughing and looked up at Claire. "Is Jack-Jack Ok?" She asked.

Claire looked at Jack, who was getting off Sawyer and grabbed his stick/sword. "Yes, honey, he's fine."

Charlie seemed out of a narrating job now, as Jack spoke. "The Prince got his sword, and chased the dragon for pulling him off." Jack proceeded to chase Sawyer around the camp with a stick.

Some of the others who had just watched for the sake of it were definately liking their choice to watch now. Obviously this story idea had given Jack the excuse he needed to chase Sawyer with a big stick. When they eventually made it back to where the others were sitting after weaving in and out of tents, rocks, bags, and avoiding a very close call with a campfire, Jack put the stick between Sawyer's torso and arm.

"Ha! I slayed the dragon!" He said.

Kate and Aaron clapped and cheered. "Yay! Jack-Jack did it!"

Jack bowed. Charlie took up his seat again. "So Prince Jack defeated the nasty dragon, and went into the castle to save Princess Kate." Charlie went forward and picked Kate up from beside Claire, and sat her on a rock behind him, then went back to Shannon. When Kate moved he shook his finger at her. "Uh uh uh, no, stay there, Princess Kate."

Shannon continued. "The Prince went up the stairs, to the tallest tower, to the highest room, and he found a beautiful Princess Kate lying asleep." Even though Kate wasn't lying down, Jack picked her up anyway. "Then he gave her a big kiss, and they lived happily ever after." Shannon finished.

Kate giggled. "Excuse me, Princess." Jack said. "I didn't get my kiss yet." Kate leaned up and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek. The crowd applauded, and people took their bows.

"Thank god that's over." Charlie said, going over to Jack. Aaron was over in seconds and jumped into his father's arms.

"At least they enjoyed it." Jack said, indicating the children.

"Oh, come on Jack," Shannon interevened. "Admit it, you had fun being a prince." She teased. "Just like Kate had fun being a princess."

"But when I get to be a big girl, I'm going to be a queen." Kate said proudly.

Sawyer walked past just as she said this. It seemed that Sawyer had been and taken his pick of the remainder of the alcohol that Jack used for medical purposes, and was walking past drinking from the tiny airplane bottle. He didn't even stop walking as he smirked and teased: "If precious Jack-Jack gets into the Princess's dress then he could be a Queen as well."

Shannon held back a laugh, and Jack gazed off after Sawyer with a disgusted look on his face. He had had his share of insults from Sawyer, but he had obviously left gay accusations out of it before. Jack rolled his eyes and was prepared never to mention it again, leaving it to be another one of Sawyer's comments that simply brushed off him, when Kate piped up:

"Jack-Jack, what's Sawyer mean?"

Everyone looked at Kate and Jack as if they actually expected him to tell her. "You'll learn when you're older, Kate." He said.

He said his goodnights, as did everyone else, and they all set off for bed. It had been a long evening for them, and a long day for Kate. As planned, she was asleep within minutes. Jack watched her for a moment, curled up on his chest, and closed his eyes himself, hoping to catch up on the sleep he had missed from the night before.

In the middle of the night, he woke up to Claire screaming.


	11. Holding Out For A Hero

When Jack heard Claire screaming, he opened his eyes straight away, and ran out of the cave. He had turned on his way out to see that Kate was still sleeping unknowing beside him. Claire was in the centre of the camp, with Charlie crouching beside her. Many of the others had now woken up, coming out to see what the commotion was. Jack ran over through the crowd, and he immediately bent beside her. "Claire, what happened?" Jack asked.

"She came back." Claire said weeping.

"Who did?" Jack asked. Wiping away a line of blood on her lower arm and feeling relieved that it wasn't coming from her. She didn't seem hurt in any way, just scared.

"She did. Danielle." She spat the name in disgust.

_Oh god, Sawyer was right. _Jack immediately thought. He pushed the idea of Sawyer being right out of his head, and focused on the situation at hand.

Charlie looked around. "Where's Aaron?" He asked, knowing that Claire would never leave her son alone in the middle of the night, especially as she had already had one appearance from Danielle that day.

"She took him. She took my son. I couldn't stop her!" She wailed.

"He's right here." They turned to see Sawyer holding the screaming boy as he walked into the camp with him. Claire lept up and ran to her son. Jack noticed that Sawyer had a patch of blood on his forehead coming from a gaze, and a bruise forming on his cheekbone.

"Sawyer-" Jack began, as Claire calmed her son down to small whimpers instead.

"Saw her coming back, then sneak into Claire's tent." He explained. "When she came out with the kid, I followed her, going to get him back. She took him to this clearing, tied him to a tree, and left him there. Then she heard Claire scream, and she ran off, back the way she had come. So I brought him back."

"Do you know where she went?" Jack asked.

"Back this way." Sawyer said.

"What happened?" Jack asked, indicating to his face, but knowing better not to reach out an inspect it until Sawyer let him.

"Frenchy wasn't alone. Someone else was with her," Sawyer explained.

"Who?"

"Ethan." Sawyer said.

"That's impossible." Sayid said, coming up beside Jack while Shannon went to comfort Claire and sit her down.

"Ethan's dead, Sawyer." Jack reminded him. "We buried him. He's dead."

"I know what I saw." Sawyer replied defensively.

"No one could survive four bullets to the chest, live without a pulse or a heartbeat for god knows how long, or survive being being buried alive for over a year." Jack elaborated.

Sawyer was just as quick to defend his point, so that he was shouting over the end of Jack's point. "Yeah, well, not many people could turn into a four-year-old either!" He said. The whole camp fell into silence, looking at the two men. Jack didn't reply. "Anyone else missing?"

Jack shook his head. "No. She can't have come back here. We would have seen her."

No sooner had Jack spoken, had a sound split the air. Another scream. A scream so shrill and terrified that it raised the hairs on the back of Jack's neck. His eyes widedened as he heard it, his eyes darting in the direction of the trees that it came from.

"Oh god." He said, sounding choked. "God, no."

Everyone watched as he darted back into the cave. He begged, pleaded with whoever was listening to him, that she was there. But when he came to lay eyes on the airplane chair bed that she had been asleep on, it was empty.

Kate was gone.

"No!" Jack yelled angrily. He turned back to the others. "Kate's gone." He said. "I'm going after her."

"No, Jack." Locke said.

"Are you insane? We have to! You heard her screaming!" He walked straight past Locke, grabbing a torch on his way past, making sure that the remaining batteries were working.

"It's the middle of the night..." Locke tried to reason.

Jack had finally been pushed too far. He turned to Locke, his eyes blazing so much that people seemed to shrink away from him. "Yes, John, it's the middle of the night, and Kate's out there! She's out there Locke with that crazy woman and apparently Ethan as well. Remember what he did to Charlie, to Claire?" Silence came upon Locke. "I'm not leaving her out there until morning. She's just a kid!" With that, he ran into the trees in the direction of the scream.

How could he have been so stupid? He left her there on her own, when clearly something dangerous was going on. Somehow, Danielle had managed to pass the crowd and take Kate without her making any sound, when Jack was only twenty feet away from where she was asleep. He mentally punished himself, vowing that he would not stop looking until he found her.

"Jack!" He stopped running to see Sayid and Locke following him. "We're coming with you." Sayid said, and Jack nodded - as much as an ass that he thought Locke was, he might need him to help to track.

They continued in the direction that the scream was coming from, but the sound had stopped, as had the tracks. "Locke?" Jack asked frustrated. "Which way did they go?"

Locke shook his head. "There are no tracks on the ground." He said, and started to check on the trees and bushes for any sign that someone had passed here. "This can't have been Danielle, it must had been Ethan."

"Kate wouldn't remember Ethan." Sayid realised. "If she barely remembers the rest of us, there's no way she'd remember Ethan."

Jack agreed. "Sawyer said that he warned her about going near Danielle."

"She must have thought that Ethan was one of us." Sayid offered, looking at Jack's drawn face. "Don't worry, we'll find her."

"The question isn't about where we'll find her, or if we'll find her." Locke said. "It's about what Ethan and Danielle want her for."

Jack wondered if Locke's statement about Kate turning into a child to ease his own fears and worries about being a father was true. Suddenly, Kate was a child, and Aaron had been temporarily kidnapped, and now Kate had been taken. Something bigger than his subconscious fear was at work here.

Another scream echoed, and Jack didn't look back to see if the others were following when he sprinted in that direction. "Kate!" He called at the top of his voice.

"Jack-Jack!" Came the replying call, he breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't stop running.

All of a sudden, he found himself in a clearing. He could hear Kate crying, and off the clearning was a path. He followed the path, not replying to the calls of Locke and Sayid somewhere far behind him, and was lead into another clearing. In the centre, curled into a ball, crying, was Kate. She was still wearing the clothes he had put her to bed in, strange minature versions of her own clothes that had shrunk when she had; the white shirt, with the beige t-shirt underneath and tiny blue jeans.

"Kate!" He ran over to her, lifted her off the floor and into his arms. She realised who it was and cried into him, letting out all her fear. He held onto her tight for a moment. "Are you Ok?" He asked. She didn't answer, so he pulled her away from his shoulder so that he could look her in the face. "Kate? Are you hurt?" He asked. She shook her head. "Where are they?" He asked.

"Lady went to go get Aaron." She said.

"Now?" He asked.

"She said that he was naughty and ran away, so that he needed to come back. She said that I had to stay here or the whispers would get me."

She was shaking again, probably from the cold. "Come on, lets go home." He told her.

"Home?" She asked. "My home is long way away." She said slightly confused. "My home is with Mommy and ... and Daddy, and Luke."

He figured that Luke was her brother, and started to walk out of the clearing, all the while keeping an eye out. Where was Ethan? Surely he would have been watching her? "No, sweetie, your home is here now." He told her. "We all live here together."

"But not with Mommy?" She asked, her voice still shaking from the tears.

"No. Sorry, Kate. Not with Mommy." He said, sad that she wanted her mother and that was one thing that he couldn't give her.

By the time he met up with Sayid and Locke, Kate had stopped crying, but was still shaking.

"We need to get back." Jack said. "Kate said that Danielle had gone back for Aaron."

They rushed back to camp, but nothing had happened. Danielle hadn't arrived, nor had Ethan, and Claire sat with Aaron asleep in her arms. She looked like she was falling asleep herself, but was determined not to, and had Sawyer and Charlie sitting either side of her, protecting her and Aaron incase anyone did come back. No one had gone back to sleep, especially not now that Ethan's name had been mentioned. They were glad to see that Kate had been brought back safe, and Shannon came running up to them, embracing Sayid.

"God, I was worried about you." She said to him, and then pulled away slightly to rub a comforting hand on Kate's back. Kate turned her head to see Shannon.

"Shan-Shan?" She muttered, her voice thick from the tears.

"Hey, sweetie." Shannon said. Shannon looked up at Jack. "You go do whatever you need to do, I'll watch her for a moment." She offered.

Jack nodded, and let Kate latch her arms around Shannon instead, who went to sit down with Sayid beside a fire. Jack went into the cave quickly, not wanting to leave her for too long, even though he trusted Shannon with her completely, it was the dangers that now lurked in the jungle that he didn't trust. He grabbed a blanket to wrap around Kate, and then came back out.

As expected, Kate crawled into his lap, and he wrapped the blanket around her. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and clung to it. "Jack-Jack?" She asked weakly.

"Yeah, honey?"

"I miss Mommy." She said tearfully.

Jack held her tightly, ignoring the watchful eyes around him. "I know, sweetie, I know."

"Don't miss Daddy." She said stubbornly.

"Why not?" Jack asked, wondering if he would finally find out what Kate's dad did that made her so angry and feel unloved.

"Daddy locks the door." She said. "He gets scary when he locks the door."

Jack looked up at Shannon and Sayid, who were looking with wide eyes. They all had their suspicions, but Jack prayed that they weren't right. "Kate, baby, what did your Dad do?" He asked. She was silent, and looked afraid. "It's Ok, you can tell me." He promised.

"But Daddy said that he'd kill me if I told anyone."


	12. Father Time

**I know that the ending of the last chapter wasn't exactly fun, and the beginning of this isn't either. So now you get to find out what Kate's dad did. **

It had been exactly as Jack had feared - Kate had been abused by her father. She had said all that she wanted to say, and then simply stopped talking. Jack had taken her back to the cave to fall asleep, and although she quickly fell back into her slumber, he stayed upright all night, leaning against the cave wall, watching along with a few select others for any sign of Danielle or Ethan. One of these others was Sawyer, who came over to Jack and sat opposite him, leaning against the other side of the cave wall.

Sawyer looked at Kate, who slept laying across Jack's lap. She seemed oblivious to what had just happened, but it was contrasted strongly in Jack. "She Ok?" Sawyer asked after a long silence.

"I think so." Jack murmered back.

There was another silence. "I overheard what Kate said about her Dad." Sawyer admitted, and Jack looked away from the looming trees to look questionably at Sawyer. "He sounds like a right dick if you ask me."

"For once, I'm gonna have to agree with you." Jack said. Sawyer raised his eyebrows, and Jack doubled back. "But just this once." He assured him. Sawyer grinned stupidly.

"Listen, Jack." He began awkwardly. "Earlier on...I...uhh...well, I'd never do anything to put Freckles in danger." He said. Jack went to speak, but Sawyer shook his head. "I care about her too, we all know that, but I wouldn't do anything to get her hurt. Including handing her over to those freaks in the trees." He jabbed his thumb towards the jungle.

Jack nodded. "I know." He said, making sure that he kept his voice low as not to wake Kate.

"You think she's gonna remember all this?" Sawyer asked him.

Jack shrugged. "I've got no idea." He admitted. "She might, she might not. It might just be a dream to her, who knows?"

"Well, hopefully she does, 'cause otherwise you've got some explaining to do." Sawyer said, standing up, and going to where he sat before, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts, and the sound of Kate's gentle breathing and occassional sighs as she slept.

* * *

The next morning, while Jack fixed a wound on Hurley's hand, Kate sat with Shannon, Claire and Aaron while they ate their breakfast. If Jack was seen as Kate's temporary father, Shannon was most definately motherly. As much as she insisted that she'd be a terrible mother, she definately knew how to take care of kids. Jack finished with Hurley, and then went over to where she was eating. Subconsciously, he put a hand on her head and smoothed her hair before sitting down beside her. Claire and Shannon looked at each other and smiled when Jack wasn't looking at the gesture.

"You Ok?" He asked her.

Kate nodded, not stopping to answer him. She finished eating, and then waited for Aaron to finish his food before crawling over to him, and sitting beside last nights burnt out fire and playing with him and a new fresh batch of bugs.

"She's going to eat one again isn't she?" Jack asked with a grimace.

"At least the other one didn't resurface." Claire pointed out.

"Obviously she's built up an immunity to them." He continued, not changing the grossed out expression on his face. Even if he was absolutley starving he doubted he would eat a bug that he didn't know the species of. What if they were poisonous? They knew from the amount of times that Aaron had swallowed virturally every bug on the island that none of them so far were poisonous, but then again, Kate didn't exactly like to stick to tradition did she?

As if on cue, Kate picked up a bug, and raised it to her mouth. This time, Jack was quicker, and took it from her hand. "Oh no you don't." He said as he released it back on the ground, so that it could scuttle away in the opposite direction to the four-year-old Kate. "Surely you're not still hungry?" He asked her.

"I'm always hungry." She said, shrugging her shoulders as if it were normal.

"Maybe she's got worms." Shannon laughed.

"Thats what my Mommy says." Kate said, shrugging again and turning back to Aaron, babbling again.

"How do they understand each other?" Shannon asked.

Claire shrugged. "I don't know, but Kate's the only one who can understand him when he does that it seems. Hopefully she'll remember it when she changes back, then I'll finally know what he's talking about when he does that." Aaron could speak perfectly well for his age, but until Kate had changed, he had lacked infant company.

"Oh, we're low on food." Shannon said, turning to Jack.

"Already?" He exclaimed. "We got some just the other day!"

"I know, but like Kate said, she's always hungry. She eats more than twice as much as she used to." Shannon pointed out.

"Ok, I'll go." Jack said.

Kate heard this, and whipped her head around. "Can I come?" She asked excitedly.

There she went with that selective hearing again. Jack was trying to understand how she could hear something like that, or how she could hear him mention her name when she was the other side of the camp, but not hear him tell her not to eat a bug when she was less than a metre away from him. "Only if you promise to stick close." He made her swear.

"I will!" She said, nodding her head.

"Now, you said that last time, and you ran off into the bushes." Jack reminded her.

"I came back!" She pointed out.

"After you nearly gave me a heart attack." He muttered under his breath. She climbed to her feet, and went over to Jack, and put her arms around his neck, standing beside him and looking at him with her deep eyes.

"Please, Jack-Jack?" She asked in her sweetest, innocent voice. "I promise I'll be good. I won't run away ever." She said, and to top it off - she fluttered her eyelashes.

Jack's eyes immediately went over her shoulder to look at Shannon accusingly, who avoided his gaze deliberately. Fantastic, as if Kate wasn't persuasive enough, she now knew how to flutter her eyelashes at him to get her own way again. She was gradually becoming more and more like her former self. He worried about taking Kate into the jungle again, even though it was daylight. He didn't want a repeat of last night, especially when both Danielle and Ethan were lurking somewhere. The idea of the two nuttiest, craziest, mental, insane lunatics on the island working together was definately not a comforting thought. He sighed.

"If you run off once, just _once_, then we're coming back, Ok?" He said sternly. He needed her to understand how important it was to her safety that she didn't put herself at any risk. "You stay right beside me unless I say otherwise."

She nodded strongly. Jack just hoped that this was a good idea.


	13. Into The Fire

Jack trudged through the undergrowth of the jungle with Michael and Shannon. The bushes which had grown over this part of the path seriously needed to be cut back, as they were making it hard for them to walk where they grew up to their knees. Jack could see that Kate was struggling as well, after all, it was near enough to her shoulders on her. For a while, Jack had carried her through the bushes, but then Kate got restless, and wanted to walk. She was still just as stubborn.

Coincidently, they found some fruit not too much afterwards. Jack and Michael climbed into the tree, struggling somewhat, as it was usually Kate who did their climbing, and Shannon sat with Kate at the base of the tree.

About halfway up, Michael passed a conversation. "Still worried?" He asked teasingly.

"Excuse me?" Jack asked, slightly out of breath.

"Are you still worried?"

"About what, falling out of this tree?" Jack joked as he pulled himself up onto a more steady branch, his foot slipping slightly just when he had got a good hold so that he didn't plument twenty feet to the ground. He never understood why Kate loved climbing trees so much.

"About being a Dad." Michael corrected.

Jack thought as he climbed, stopping when they were in reach of the fruit. With all that had been going on, part of him had forgotten that he and Kate were expecting a child. Of course, now that Kate was a child herself, things had changed, and Jack needed to take care of her in the hope that things would return to normal. Whenever someone brought up the conversation of being a father, Jack felt that butterflies feeling in his stomach of excitement and fear. He shook his head. "Of course I am."

"Don't be." Michael said. "Being a Dad's the greatest thing that ever happened to me." He said, and smiled. "Just, one bit of advice, you know, Dad to Dad." He agreed.

"As much as you want." Jack laughed. "I probably need it."

"Don't let anyone tell you how to raise your kid, Jack." Michael said seriously. "Accept their help, but at the end of the day, they're your child, not theirs. And also," He looked down at Kate and Shannon who were laughing together. "Don't let anything take your kid or Kate away from you."

Jack remembered how Michael and Walt had been seperated for eight years, and that it had broken Michael's heart. He tried to think of what was worse: not being there, like Michael, or turning out like his father. As if he knew what the other was thinking, Michael continued.

"You don't live long enough to make every mistake in the world." He said, gathering the fruit and not making eye contact with Jack. "That's why we have to learn from everyone else's; like our friends, our parents...everyone makes mistakes, you've just got to know how to fix them."

That's what he had built a career out of: fixing things. Jack Shephard, the fixer. He remembered when Kate had injured herself, and he had helped her out; she had said that he hadn't just fixed the wounds on her arms, but he had fixed her heart as well.

"Besides," Michael carried on. "I'm the only _real _father on this island." He said proudly. "I know that Charlie's doing great with Aaron, and all. But blood-wise, there's just me. You'll be soon, as well. If this whole Kate thing is a test of fatherhood, then I'm a great judge to say that you're doing pretty damn good under the circumstances."

Jack smiled at him. "Thanks."

"No problem. This should be enough, you think you'll survive the climb down?"

"It's not the climb I'm worried about." Jack gulped. "It's the fall."

Surprisingly, Jack made it out of tree without falling, although there were some very close calls. They began their walk back to camp, complete with food. They were about ten minutes from camp when Kate, who had been quite before hand, singing to herself, started to chatter away desperately. "Jack-Jack?" Kate asked, tugging on his hand she was holding. "Jack-Jack!"

"Yeah?" Jack answered.

"I gotta go." She said in a rushed voice.

Jack stopped walking, as did Michael. "Didn't you go before we left?" Jack asked her, in disbelief, seeing as they had only been our of camp for half an hour. She nodded. "You need to go again?" She nodded again. "Well, uh, Ok...there, that bush," He said, pointing at a particularly large one beside a tree. "We'll take you behind there."

Kate widened her eyes and shook her head. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because you're a _boy!_" Kate explained as if he were stupid.

Shannon, who had simply come along because Kate has asked her to, laughed. Jack looked at her. "I think she's been spending too much time with you." Jack said. "Kate, no one's going to watch you." He assured her.

"No!" She whined. "Shannon." She said.

Shannon held out her hand, and Kate let go of Jack's and took hers instead, pulling her behind the bush. For someone who loved running off out of Jack's sight, she hated going to the bathroom on her own. Kate walked slowly ahead with Michael, making sure that they were still quite near to the bush that Shannon and Kate were behind, but that Kate didn't yell at them for 'trying to look'. About ten seconds later, they heard a yelp from Kate as they came out of the bushes.

"Kate?" Jack called over as Shannon emerged from the bushes with a frightened Kate. He walked back over to them and Kate near enough jumped into his arms. "Woah, what's wrong?" He asked her.

"A bug crawled up her leg and onto her back." Shannon explained. "It wasn't that big, but she says it bit her."

Jack knew that being bitten by anything out in the jungle was potentially dangerous, particularly when they didn't know what by. "Where?" He asked. Shannon indicated a spot near her left shoulder, and Jack slipped the sleeve of her t-shirt down so that he could see. Sure enough, there was two bite marks, with the skin around in a darker pink from the pinch of it.

"What do you think?" Shannon asked.

"I'll have to keep an eye on it, that's all I can do until anything happens." Jack said, hoping that nothing would happen. "Come on, lets get back to camp."


	14. Too Hard To Be Free

About an hour after they returned, Jack sat doing his regular inventory of medical supplies that they had left, making notes for Sun on what herbs he needed more of. Kate was playing at the edge of the cave with Aaron while Claire sat and watched them from a rock, enjoying a well deserved rest. Jack kept checking on Kate, making sure she was all right, and she was laughing and running around just like any other day. He kept looking for symptoms from the bite, but it was only an hour afterwards, not even midday yet, so he knew that he probably had a worrying day ahead of him.

"What's the matter, Kate?" Claire asked.

Jack looked up, to see what she had asked that for. He saw Claire crouching infront of Kate while Aaron stood at her side, waiting to be able to play again. Kate had her right hand stretching across her neck so that it was sheilding her shoulder, as if trying to stop a pain in it, but it was strained like she couldn't quite reach the area she wanted to.

"Sore." Kate mumbled to Claire, who frowned.

"What's sore, sweetie?" She asked softly, in that motherly tone.

"Shoulder." She mumbled again, her voice sounding like she was about to cry, but trying to stop it.

"Can I have a look?" Claire asked, Kate shook her head. "Honey, I can't do anything if you don't show me." Kate considered this for a moment, and then turned around so that Claire could slip down the shoulder and look at her skin. She gasped. "Oh my God." Claire didn't take her eyes off of Kate's shoulder. "Jack!"

Jack came running straight away, and swore when he saw Kate's shoulder, immedietly falling on his knees and taking a better look. There was a lump around the bite the size of large coin, and the skin around it was breaking out in a rash. He reached out to put his fingers on the lump, but Kate recoiled and pulled away when he did, whimpering. "Hey, it's ok. I'm sorry." Jack said comfortingly, and Kate came back to him. "How long has it been hurting for?" He asked her, noticing her pale face.

She shrugged. "A while."

"Does it itch?" He asked her.

Kate nodded. "I can't scratch it." She complained. "I can't reach."

She strained her arm again but Jack gently pulled it down. "No, sweetie, don't scratch it. It will make it worse." He put a hand on her forehead. She was burning up. Not ten minutes ago she had been playing as usual, but now she was getting sicker by the minute. "Claire, can you get me a cold cloth?" Jack asked, and she went to give Aaron to Charlie before going into the cave to wet a cloth for Jack.

"Don't feel well, Jack-Jack." Kate whimpered again, and reached out for him, holding herself to him tightly. "Don't like it."

"I know, baby, I know." He said. "Don't you worry, Ok. I'm gonna make you all better."

Kate pulled away and retched. Jack moved so that he was behind her when she began throwing up. Her hair came loose and he safely tied it back before it got in her way. She vomited for a while, all the time Jack stayed there, rubbing her back, whispering words of comfort. If Kate had taught him anything, it was the bedside manner. Halfway through, she had started crying as well, scared and tired.

When she did finally stop, Jack lifted her up, and took her into the cave, where Claire had been waiting. He laid Kate down where she slept and Claire handed him the cloth. "Thank you."

"Do you need anything else?"

"Sun." He said, and Claire nodded, running off to find their Korean friend.

Jack sat down beside Kate, who was breathing hard. Her eyes were looking everywhere, moving quickly. "Kate?" He said softly, wiping her forehead down with a cloth before picking up a bottle of water. He helped her to sit up for a moment, letting her lean against him. "Kate, I need you to drink some water. Can you do that for me?" He asked. She didn't reply, so he lifted the bottle to her lips, tipping it slowly. She drank it, and he smiled slightly. "Good girl." He said.

Instead of laying her back down on the bed, he moved onto it with the cloth in his hand so that she could lay comfortably in his arms. He sat cross-legged, supporting Kate so her back was leaned against his chest, her head just below his shoulder. He could feel each rise and fall her chest. She said nothing except for whimpering his name.

"I'm here, Kate, I'm right here." He said to her, wiping down her arms and neck to keep her cool. Sun appeared with Claire behind her, and she frowned when she saw Kate.

"What happened to her?"

"She's been bitten by something." Jack told her as she crouched by his side. "I need something to bring her fever down and fast." Sun nodded and rushed off to her garden.

Kate began crying again and Jack gently rocked her in his arms to try and soothe her. It didn't work, but her cries sounded weak, not strong as they had been before. Jack knew that it was only a matter of time before someone discovered a poisonous bug around the camp area, but they thought that Aaron had eaten one of every species already. Unless their bites had different properties to being eaten. After a while, a tired out Sun came running back into the cave.

"Did you find anything?" Jack asked.

Sun nodded. "I need her to drink this." She handed Jack a bowl of liquid that he recognised Sun using before for fevers. He didn't pretend to know the name of it, as it was a complicated name that he could never remember no matter how many times Sun tried to tell him. Jack nodded, and raised the bowl.

"Kate?" He asked her softly. "Kate, honey, listen to me. You're going to be all right, I promise. If you want to get better, you need to take some medicine for me, okay?" Kate nodded wearily. "Thats it, sweetie." He said, as he tipped the plant extract into her mouth and she swallowed. She grimaced at the taste, but didn't complain about it.

"Jack, you look scared." Sun observed.

"I am scared." He admitted.

"Why? It's just a fever."

"First of all; fevers are dangerous in young children, particularly as high as Kate's is. They're also potentially fatal when it comes to women with early pregnancies." This is what scared him most, particularly because hers was so high, and before she had turned into a child, Kate was pregnant. It was only five weeks, well, six weeks now, but this made it all the more dangerous. "Secondly, we don't know how poisonous this bug is. And I don't want anything to happen to her."

Sun looked at Jack as he turned his attention back to the child version of the woman he loved. "Kate brought you faith, Jack." Sun said. "Don't let this take it away from you."


	15. Absolute Reality

Jack stayed with Kate all day. People came and went, seeing how she was, but Jack's only movement came from making Kate more comfortable. Shortly after Sun returned, Kate slipped from her whimpers into a restless sleep. Her unconsciousness put Jack on edge even more. Luckily, her fever lessened, so he was more inclined to let her sleep. Outside the cave, he could hear the words of the other survivors as they ate their dinner. Occassionally a few laughs reached his ear-shot. He listened to them, but the voices were so overlapped that he could barely tell whom was speaking to whom.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"You know what, I could really go for some ketchup with this boar."

"And then she said 'I think of you as a brother'. I mean honestly, oldest excuse in the book."

"It's nearly Christmas you know, back in civilisation."

The shadows of two people standing near the caves edge caught his eye. He couldn't distort the shapes, but he knew that they were female. They looked like they were about to come in, and Jack was in no mood to hear what people needed right now, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He listened intently to their voices.

"Jack-? Oh he's asleep." That was Shannon.

"Never mind, we'll leave him some food next to him." The second voice belonged to Claire. He felt them approach, and remained still as they placed a plate of food beside him. He could smell the boar drifting up to him. "I bet they're both hungry after the day they've had." Claire's voice got quieter, and Jack realised that she was moving away.

"It doesn't seem fair, does it?" Shannon said. "I mean, they went through so much before they were together. I would have thought that it would have stopped now that they've got each other."

One of them sighed, he didn't know which one. "Things were just looking up as well." Claire agreed. "What are we being so negative for? She's going to be back to normal soon."

"How do you know that?" Shannon asked.

"Because she has to." Claire said. "I don't think Jack could bear things without her. He wouldn't just be losing the Kate he knows, he'd be losing his child as well."

Jack heard their voices get quieter until eventually they disappeared altogether. He opened his eyes again, which were now fighting back tears from what he had just heard. The idea that he was losing Kate day by day was heartbreaking enough, let alone the fact ontop of this that his child was also in jeapordy. He looked down at Kate, who was still resting in his arms. He smoothed her hair, placing a kiss on her forehead. God, he missed her. Without even meaning to, he took himself back to the night before this had happened.

_They had just announced Kate's pregnancy, and people had gone back to talking amongst themselves while the pair sat with their usual group; Shannon, Sayid, Charlie, Claire, and Aaron. Kate was leaning back in his lap, much like she was now, with her head on his shoulder, and every now and then drifting out of the conversation to nuzzle against his neck. He held his arms around her tightly, one hand subconsciously resting on her stomach protectively, and every word exchanged between them was in sweet whispers. Although they were all used to their public displays of affection, Jack and Kate had never looked more in love._

_Soon, Kate had fallen silent, and eventually said that she was tired, and disappeared off to the cave that she and Jack shared. Jack watched her go, not listening to Charlie who was telling him something about a DriveShaft tour, and realised from her retreating back that her shoulders were sagging with defeat. Frowing, he got up to follow her. _

_Inside the cave, Kate was sitting on the side of their makeshift bed, her legs brought up to her knees and her arms wrapped around them loosely. Jack sat beside her, with an arm around her shoulders. Immediately, her head found his shoulder for a few seconds, before she turned and rested her head in his lap, laying out on the bed. _

_"You're scared, aren't you?" Jack observed quietly, combing through a section of her curly hair with his fingers. _

_She was silent for a while, trying to force herself into admitting the hardest thing for her. "Yeah." She said, almost in a whisper, after a while. Then she repeated it louder. "Yeah, I'm terrified." She was avoiding Jack's gaze, looking down at their entwined hands that rested just abover her midsection._

_"It's Ok to be scared." Jack told her, and she shook her head, disagreeing with him. "No one's going to think less of you if you are." _

_"Aren't they?" She said in disbelief._

_"You seriously think that Claire wasn't the least bit scared when she found out?" Jack asked._

_"She didn't know that she was going to give birth in the middle of the jungle though." Kate pointed out._

_"But she did it anyway." Kate looked up at him finally, their eyes connecting. "Kate, if it's any help, I'm scared too." He admitted, and he saw the fear show in her eyes. "But that doesn't mean anything. Just because we're out here, doesn't mean that I'm not going to take care of you. It just means that I'm going to go to every lengths possible to make sure that you and our baby are healthy the whole way through this." _

_She was silent again, looking down at their hands again. "But what if something goes wrong? What if something happens that you can't fix?"_

_Jack moved their hands so that his was sandwiching Kate's between him and her stomach, right above where their baby was growing inside of her. She felt a stirring that she always felt when they did this, a stirring of emotions; excitement, fear, panick, love; and looked up at Jack again. He leaned down to kiss her softly. "Nothing is going to take this away from us." He assured her. "This is our happiness, our family."_

_"And if something tries to take it away?" He knew that she was referring to the Others, or to Danielle. _

_"Then I'll fight them off with a big stick." He said, managing to draw a laugh from her. He kissed her again. "Don't worry, I'll never let anything happen to you."_

"Jack, Jack! Jack, wake up!"

His eyelids opened slowly, and it took a few moments for him to realise that he had fallen asleep. Sitting up gradually, a hand shot up and held him steady.

"Don't move, you'll wake her up."

He looked up to see Sun looking down at him, a broad smile on her face.

"Is she Ok?" He asked in a whisper.

"She's more than Ok." Sun said.

"Has the fever gone?"

"Jack, maybe you should look at her."

Jack frowned at Sun in confusion. He shifted his body so that he was at a better angle to look at her, when he realised something. Kate's body had gotten quite bigger through the night. She mumbled incoherantly with the movement of his body, and held on tighter to him to keep him still. Her arm, rather than stretching straight over his stomach, was long enough to bend at her elbow and lay on his chest instead. Turning his head, he could see that her hair wasn't longer, but there was a lot more of it that tickled beneath his chin. Their lower legs were entwined as they lay together, and Jack let his head fall back onto the pillow beneath him.

"She's back." He said breathlessly, the shock setting in. "She's back."


	16. There Will Never Be Another Tonight

Kate was back. She was no longer a child, she was back to the woman that she had been before, in all her glory. Jack looked over at Sun, who was grinning just as much as she looked at Kate. "When-when did it happen?" He asked her, not sure of how to word it. After all, he wasn't sure what had happened, except that Kate, _his _Kate, had come back.

Sun shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I don't know. I just came in a few minutes ago and saw her."

Jack no longer cared why or how it had happened, all that mattered was that she was back. He gently moved from beneath her, remembering that she had been ill, and knelt beside her, leaning over her as he put a hand on her forehead. "The fever's gone." He announced, going about checking things. "Breathing's good...pulse is fine...just got to check that bite." Carefully, as not to disturb her sleep, he sat her up, and leaned her against him so that he could check over her shoulder. "That's weird." Jack said to himself. "There's nothing there." He told Sun. "Not even the puncture wounds."

"Jack..."

Hearing Kate's gentle, tired moan, he stopped where his fingers were running softly over the skin of her shoulder. "Yeah, Kate?" He said breathlessly, amazed that he could hear her voice like he used to again.

"Mmm...Your hands are cold." She mumbled, moving her head so that she was more comfortable with her cheek pressed against his shoulder, and he felt her breathing against the side of his neck. He removed his 'cold' hands, and rubbed her back gently through her t-shirt. "Thats better." She said, almost drifting back into sleep, but something stopped her.

Her eyes snapped open. Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart ran overboard inside her chest, thumping wildly. She lifted her head from Jack's shoulder, now fully awake, and stared at him. He reached out, putting a hand on the side of her face, making sure that this was real, that she wasn't an illusion, and she found herself doing the same thing. She laughed, happy tears springing to her eyes as every action she took was mirrored in Jack, only his tears actually slipped down his cheeks.

"Is it over now?" She asked him.

He nodded, biting his lip subconsciously. "Yeah," He replied throatily. "Yeah, it's all over. You're back."

She threw her arms around his neck, acting so quickly that she caught Jack off guard and he had to put a hand behind him to steady himself before wrapping both arms tightly around her, both of them letting silent tears fall down their cheeks as they laughed with each other. Jack pressed her firmly against him, like he had wanted to do for the past week, kissing her cheek, the only part of her face that wasn't buried against him, with every available chance. He never thought that he could miss her as he had done because of the change.

"KATE!"

Voice broke the couple apart, and they both looked over Jack's shoulder to see Claire and Shannon. Both of the other women came over and hugged Kate on their knees as well, either side of the pair. All three of the women were laughing together. Other survivors were gathering near the edge of the cave, peering in at Claire's call to see the regular Kate back again. Even though he was going to be losing a playmate, Sawyer, too, looked curious, and glad to see her back again.

Kate smiled at the people around her, everything she had been through the last few days was finally over. Flinging herself at Jack again, she kissed him, regardless of everyone watching.

Twenty minutes later, the crowds had diminished, and they had ventured out for breakfast. As usual, they went to where Claire was feeding Aaron, along with Charlie, Shannon and Sayid. Sitting down beside Jack, rather that the urge she had to crawl up in his lap (guessing she wasn't completely over her change), Kate took the food that was passed to her, and started eating. She stayed as close to Jack as she could get without sitting in his lap, with their shoulders brushed up against each other, and she was subtly leaning against him.

"At last, no more troublesome four year old Kate." Charlie sighed happily. "There is a God."

Kate threw a small stone at him which bounced off the top of his head. "I wasn't that bad." She said.

"So you remember it then?" Jack asked.

Kate nodded. "I could see it all happening, I just couldn't control myself." She told them.

"When people say 'Get in touch with your inner child' they don't mean it literally." Sayid joked.

"Like I had a choice." Kate mumbled, causing Jack to laugh, and wrap an arm around her shoulder.

"I don't care what happened as long as you're back." He told her quietly, so that no one else could hear what he was saying.

A voice came from behind them, and they saw Sawyer slinking along with some food and walking past them. He didn't look at them when he spoke, but they all heard him. "Ladies and Gentlemen of Craphole Island. Kate is sitting still. Twenty bucks says she's on drugs and is too wasted to stand...OW!"

Another rock, a bit larger this time, had flown from inside the group, and hit Sawyer in the temple. He stopped, looking to see who had thrown it, and his eyes came to rest upon Aaron, who had another ready.

"Come on, Kid, you're on my side." Sawyer reasoned.

"Don't you be nasty to my Kate." He said in his pouty childish voice.

"Aaron! Don't throw rocks at people, you could hurt them." Claire warned him, Aaron put the rock down and went to sit beside Kate.

"I think I prefered you as a kid, Freckles." Sawyer grumbled, and Kate and Aaron looked up at him, simultaeneously sticking their tongues out at him. Everyone laughed and Sawyer disappeared again.

Kate looked down at Aaron. "I'm glad that I've got you on my side now, Kiddo." She said, ruffling his hair. He shook his head, letting the soft curls fall back into place, and giggled.

"Wanna race?" He asked excitedly.

Kate remembered their races on the beach, and smiled softly at him. She was still very tired at the moment, and she wanted to spent time with Jack. "Sorry, Aaron, I'm really tired." She said. His face fell. "But tomorrow, we'll come up with a better race than Sawyer did."

Aaron seemed satisfied with this, and Kate turned back to Jack as he wandered back over to his mother. "What?" She asked, when she saw how Jack was looking at her.

"See, you don't need any silly tests like I did." He said with a smile.

"Tests?" She asked.

"Everyone thought that the reason you turned into a kid was so that Jack could prove to himself that he would be a good father." Shannon explained.

"I take it that it worked then."

"Think about it." Claire said. "He's looked after her when she was ill, he kept her occupied and out of trouble, when she was in danger he went and found her, he made her feel safe when she was scared, he made up a story for her."

"We." Shannon intervened proudly. "_We_ made up a story for her."

"Which was very good." Kate assured them.

"I'll still be worried." Jack said. "Like Claire said, it's natural. But at least I'll be prepared for Kate's offspring."

She elbowed him gently in the ribs, and he smiled, pulling her close again and both of them smiling at each other as they rested their hands on her stomach on top of each other. Things were back to normal again.

A/N: Want it to end here? Or do you want more? I'd really like to introduce the cause of all this change cough-baby-cough, as I've got a really clear picture of her in my head. It depends on you guys though :D


	17. So It Begins

**Ok, you guys asked for it! Here it is! But before I start, I do want to say thanks to all my lovely reviewers, you make my day - cookies for all! I couldn't believe it when I looked at my stats page and I saw that this story had a total of 146! and 5068 hits! Thats my highest on both! It's on the highest for alerts, and second highest on faves, losing out only to Concrete Paradise, my other Lost fic. Holy Christ, Thanks! So here's to all my lovely reviewers through the last 16 (and final few) chapters:**

**KateLilly; Northbabii03; Everwoodgirl04; Sunny102; Orlando-crazy; Domaholic17; Nikki-da-latina; NYR88; Girl who writes; Zeusfluff; AnnaLangdon; FanOfLOST; SGCFan4ever; Leli1013; Liz; Rock On or Rock Out; Meagan4dominic; Sylvia; Wildjinx; Krisinmtka; ThickerThanBlood; Steam rolled harry potter; Crookedview; Kballgetlost; Miv226; Ezza-1989; ObsessedwithLOST; BooneShannon4evr; Bemorechill; Natasha Skye; Lisa**

**And of course - my best friend, my rose in the garden of evil. Toxic-Beetle. You rock girl! (To everyone else out there, I had to update this because otherwise I would have been poisoned with Spag Bol. Long story.) **

**There should be another 2-3 chapters in this at my guess - it depends how into it I get. My details pretty vauge on stuff like this so it might be more speech than anything else.**

**Thanks again guys!**

**Bad thing about these extra chapters is that I've now got to think of a Jate baby name. Come on guys - what's the ultimate Jate baby name?**

**Chapter 17 (by public demand)**

Kate's pregnancy luckily went without any disasters. There was a near miss when she had some cramps and got extremely paranoid, but luckily both mother and baby were fine for months to come. Finally, after so much waiting, and worrying, the nine month mark had come, and the baby was due any day now. Jack had started to make sure that someone was always with her, not wanting a repeat of Claire nearly giving birth on her own in the middle of the jungle. Kate assured him that everything would run smoothly and that things would be fine, but she was still scared about giving birth on an island with no real medical supplies - not to mention painkillers, yeah, she could be glad for some of those back home.

Suddenly, the action heroine of the island, who was used to getting herself out of a lot of tight spots on a daily basis, was faced with another, smaller, action hero or heroine who also wanted to get out of a tight spot. After all, she was Kate Austen, the tough ex-criminal who never let anything weaken her stride - giving birth was no exception. Even if it was giving birth on a deserted island...with limited supplies...no painkillers...a spinal surgeon for a midwife (which for the record, she completely trusted)...a high chance of something going wrong...yeah, it was nothing she couldn't handle.

She sat with Claire and Shannon outside the caves, while Jack was fixing up a wound for someone. She had a peculiar feeling that morning, that had only got stronger during the day. As it flared up again, she winced and put a hand over her now large stomach. It had been happening all morning now, and it was nearly noon.

"You Ok Kate?" Shannon asked, noticing how she had withdrawn from their conversation about whether or not Brad Pitt might still be attractive.

"Yeah," She answered, as the cramping pain subsided. She rubbed her stomach, calming the kicking baby down. "Yeah, just kicking."

"God that kid should be a football player," Claire said. "He's been kicking like crazy this morning."

"She." Kate corrected.

"You think it's a girl?" They asked.

Kate nodded. "Oh yeah, she's a girl." She told them confidently.

"And Jack thinks it's a boy?" Claire asked.

"Yup." Kate said, sending the other two into giggle fits. She rubbed her stomach again as she felt a cramping sensation worked its way up again. She looked down at her stomach and spoke to it. "Ok, kiddo, I know you want out, but you've got to wait for a while until you're ready." She said, then leaned back against the rock behind her. "As great as this is...I'll be glad when it's over." She admitted.

"Really?" Shannon asked.

Kate nodded again. "Having a baby growing inside you is...well, I can't describe it. But wanting to hold it properly in your arms is a completely different thing." She told them. Claire nodded in agreement, having felt the same way with Aaron, who was four years old himself now. "I gotta go." She said, struggling with Shannon's help to get to her feet. "Call of nature."

Yet she had only gone about ten feet from the others when she stopped and leaned against a tree with one hand, and holding her stomach with another hand. She let out a cry as pain ripped through her stomach and forced her to lean over double while trying to steady herself. Shannon and Claire, who heard her cry, came rushing over.

"Kate?"

"I think it's starting." Claire said, recognising the signs of labour from her own a few years ago.

"No!" Kate said, standing straight awkwardly. They both saw the fear in her eyes. "No! It's not time!" She argued, but knew deep down that it was. Despite everything she had said not fifteen seconds ago about wanting to hold her baby in her arms, she knew that she wasn't ready to go through with the birth, particularly when she knew that there was a danger for both her and the baby.

"Go and get Jack." Claire told Shannon, who rushed off into the cave, calling out for Jack. Claire turned to Kate, who groaned as a contraction hit her.

"I can't do this, Claire." Kate said fearfully. "I can't do it. I'm not ready."

"Look at me, Kate. You're going to be fine." Claire assured her. "Remember what you told me when Aaron was being born? You're not alone, Kate, we're all here for you."

Kate had tears in her eyes now from the fear, and she turned her head when she heard Jack calling her name from the caves. Within seconds, he was over and beside her.

"Claire, help me get her into the cave." He said, as Claire hooked one arm through Kate's. Jack put one hand on her cheek and raised it to look at him. "It's Ok." He assured her. "You're going to be fine, I won't let anything happen to you." He took her other arm and wrapped it over his shoulder, helping her move to the cave.

Inside, Shannon was waiting to help, and Jack and Claire sat Kate down on the bed where she doubled over with another contraction. "Jack!" She moaned as it hit her, holding out her hand. He took it, raising it to his lips and kneeling in front of her. She looked at him with scared eyes. "This can't happen now, Jack." She said, her voice hoarse. "I'm not ready!"

"Hey, it's all right." He told her, gripping her hands tightly with his. "I know that you're scared, and I'm scared too. But we're going to do this together, Ok?" She nodded. "You're both going to be all right." He promised. "It's going to be hard, but there's only so much I can do here, Kate. You need to be there for this baby right now. Can you do that for me?"

"Jack I-"

"Kate, can you help me deliver this baby?" He asked her again, their eyes connecting strongly.

She nodded her head slowly. "Yeah."

"Good." He said, leaning up to kiss her lips softly. "It's Ok." He told her again. "I'm going to take care of you."


	18. Something To Believe In

**Thanks for all the reviews :D I'm glad that you enjoyed it! I'm hoping to have this story finished before Xmas, so I might get a sequel up in the New Year, depending on how far my idea goes. I'll run it by you at the end of this story and let me know whether you think it's worth doing. Thanks for all your help with names, but someone told me what they've named their kid when I wrote this so I just had to use it.**

**Xx**

Scared, shaken, and in a great deal of pain, Kate leaned back against the cave wall. Sweat was creating a shining film over her face, and although she was looking brave, her eyes were saying more than anything else about the fear she felt. Claire and Shannon were at her sides, Jack ready to deliver the baby. The contractions were getting more frequent now, which scared Kate even more. While between each one she could hear Shannon's faint counting, the same numbers were running through her head in a similar fashion, but for different reasons. Over and over again she counted, getting a few seconds without fear before it washed over her again.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5...Come on, you can do this, the baby needs you... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...This is nothing compared to what you've done before... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...You're not alone, you're not alone... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...you can be a mother..._

She yelled out again as another contraction came, Shannon announced that they were now a minute apart and Kate began shaking. "No...they can't be...are you sure you counted right?" She asked, but she felt the urge to push down, and knew that she was right. Scared, she felt pain in her chest. "Jack-" She started but he was already talking to her, he took a hand of hers from Claire while the other woman wiped her forehead with cool water.

"It's alright, Kate, just breathe. That's it. Deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth." After a few seconds, the pain in her chest lessened from the more organised breathing, and she gripped Jack's hand tightly with her own. "Are you ready?" He asked her.

_No! I can't do this! _"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." -_Not._

Jack looked at her fear stricken eyes, and nodded. "Right, when the next contraction comes, I want you to push until I say to stop okay?" She nodded, and the next contraction came. She pushed as Jack told her, for as long as she could, and a few contractions passed where nothing happened. Then, when she was starting to worry if something was going wrong, Jack announced that he could see the head.

Kate pushed as hard as she could, knowing that it was nearly over, and that her baby was finally arriving, having recieved a new sense of strength. The head emerged...then the shoulders...then her baby was out.

She lifted her head quickly from where it was resting on Shannon's shoulder, to see Jack holding the slippery child, clearing the mouth and throat of the child. "It's a girl." He told Kate, who immediately asked a question that was worrying him.

"Why isn't she crying?"

Jack was already checking his newborn daughter though, and to his horror, found that she wasn't breathing.

"Jack?"

His daughter wasn't breathing.

"Jack, what's happening?" Kate said, nearly screaming. Tears were streaming down her face.

Jack counted to 5, threw off the panick, and began working to save the baby's life. He wasn't about to let his baby die, not when he and Kate had been through so much already. With a nearby blanket, he vigourously dried her arms, her legs, and her stomach with the blanket to warm her up. When that failed, he flicked her heels with his finger and thumb. The sound of Kate's crying and desperation to see her baby was finally drowned out with the sound of a crying baby.

"She's Ok!" He said, although the cry had already told Kate that, who's cry had turned into a small laugh.

Wrapping the blanket around the baby, which although for a girl, was a royal blue colour, he moved so that he was sitting beside Kate, as Shannon had moved to be beside Claire, giving the new family room. They said their congratulations, and then left the caves.

Jack passed their daughter over to Kate, who took the baby in her arms, smiling broadly. "Oh my God." She whispered, tracing the crying baby's face with her finger. "I told you she'd be a girl." She said proudly, tearing her eyes of the baby for only a second before returning her attention on her daughter.

Jack put his arm around Kate's shoulder, kissing her before looking down at his daughter. "Ok, you were right. I'm glad you were."

"She's so beautiful." Kate marvelled. "I can't believe we waited nine months for this. All this time she's been getting more and more beautiful every day, and we haven't been able to see it."

"But now we will get to see it everyday." Jack reminded her, noticing how, just as he reckoned, the baby already had a thick tuft of dark hair. "We did it, Kate, we're parents. Think we can handle it?" He teased. "Getting up in the middle of the night? The linen diapers we've had to make that won't absorb anything? The crying?"

Kate smiled that smile she always had when she thought of her baby, the maternal look of peace. "We'll manage." She said. "I think that the first words, her first steps, her first laugh and her smile will make up for it."

Jack grinned, and they kissed again, for longer this time, as the baby stopped crying and simply looked around her in wonder. The new parents finally matched their gaze with a pair of crystal blue newborn eyes. All newborns came with blue eyes, but would the baby's eyes become greyish brown like Kate's or pure brown like Jack's? Or would they remain blue?

"What are we going to call her?" Jack asked. "You were the one thinking of girls names." He pointed out.

Kate looked at her daughter, and the perfect name came to mind. "Kaia." She said confidently. "Kaia Sahara Shephard."

Jack looked as his daughter yawned, and then closed her eyes, just before her eyelids fell still in sleep, she would have heard her father whispering "Goodnight Kaia."


	19. Kaia Sahara Shephard

**Glad you all enjoyed the last chapter :D There's a few more to go yet, as I want to show how much the baby is like her parents, and show a bit of her growing up. Even though its spelt Kaia, it's pronounced like Kiya. I just thought it was a really beautiful name. Anyway, tally ho, and off with the chapter.**

Kate had just finished feeding Kaia when Jack came to sit beside her, with a good morning kiss and handing her some food for herself. Smiling at him, she handed baby Kaia, who was now three months old, over to her father so that she could eat her breakfast. The first few months of their child's life had passed quickly, almost too quickly for her liking. Not for the first time since Kaia had been born, she wished she was back home so that she could have photographs of Kaia with their friends and her and Jack most importantly. Especially at times like this, when the father and daughter looked so inimaginatively cute together.

Jack noticed her dreamy look as she watched them and laughed softly. "Earth to planet Kate?" Kate snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at him. "Off in another world?" Nodding as she took another bite of the fruit, Jack rolled his eyes. "Try spending more time on this planet." He told her with a playful nudge at her shoulder.

"You two just looked so cute together." She told him.

Jack grinned proudly. "That's 'cause Kaia is a Daddy's girl." He told her, adjusting the baby in his arms as she looked all around her with wide brown eyes that had transfixed on the man holding her. Her eyes were now the exact same colour as Jack's, but as her hair grew, it was clear that it would be curly like Kate's, exactly how Jack had imagined it when he watched the four-year-old Kate sleeping.

"No way, she's a Momma's girl." Kate argued.

"Daddy's girl."

"Momma's girl."

"Daddy's girl."

"Momma's girl."

"Daddy's girl."

"Momma's girl."

"Dad-"

"Guys, cut it out!" Sawyer said as he walked by them. "The kid's clever. She just manipulates which ever one of you she wants somethin' out of at the time. She'll be a Momma's girl when she wants feedin', but a Daddy's girl when she's done somethin' wrong and thinks that Momma's gonna tell her off. Then she'll flutter her eyelashes and Daddy goes all soppy on her and she gets away with God knows what." Without another word, he disappared again, leaving Jack and Kate to stare blankly after him, while Kaia looked around madly for the source of the voice that, as it had done to Aaron, amazed every child.

Kate leaned over and traced her daughter's cheek and she smiled up at her. Kaia had been smiling non stop for the last two months, ever since the first time she had smiled when Kate was holding her. When Kaia had smiled for the first time in her arms, it made Kate feel that every hardship she had ever suffered in her life was worth it for that smile - the first person to see Kaia's smile. "She's grown so much." Kate muttered. "And we'll never have photos to remember it by."

Jack noticed her face falling a little at the thought, and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry, it's not like we'll forget what she looked like when she was small enough to hold. It's just going to be a shame that there's no embarrassing photo's of her on the potty to show at her 18th."

Kate burst out laughing at Jack's idea and he looked at her strangely. "What? That never happened to you?" he asked her. She shook her head through her laughing.

"No!" She laughed.

"It happens to most people." Jack said, pretending to be proud of that particular evening.

"Well, I'm not 'most people', Jack." She said, knowing that there was no chance of an 18th birthday with her family where she was brought up. She couldn't remember what she did that night, but she remembered waking up in a tree the next morning.

Jack smiled at her softly, before muttering just loud enough so she could hear it. "No, you're not. No girl's exactly like you."

She had to smile, knowing that once that line had been used to define her shady past, but now Jack used it to describe how he felt about her. Strange how he could take something so painful to her and turn it into something good just by hearing it come from his lips. Their eyes locked and they inched towards each other...their lips just about to touch...

"Ouch!" Kate exclaimed, her head jerking downwards. Looking down, Jack saw that Kaia had a tiny fistful of Kate's hair balled in her fist, and was tugging on it roughly, laughing as she did so. Everything was a game to the child. Carefully freeing her hair, Kate had to laugh at the little girl - Jack did, after all. No, don't worry about Kate's hair Jack, you just laugh away to yourself.

"I'm going to be bald soon." She muttered grimly, taking away the few strands that had been snapped away in the process so that Kaia didn't try to eat them again. Jack laughed at this remark, and Kate turned to him daringly. "Go on, laugh it up, Dr Shephard, because if she gives me a bald patch I'm shaving off one of your eyebrows in the middle of the night." She warned.

Jack stopped laughing. "You wouldn't."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, I would." She assured him. "It's not my eyebrow."

"Thank you for your concern."

"You're welcome."

Kaia smiled and they were joined for breakfast by Rose, the elderly woman who had long provided them with advice, particularly when Jack and Kate were denying their love for each other. She stopped by to see how the baby was doing, as she did most mornings now. Rose was some sorts of a grandmother to Kaia, always there to take care of her while Jack and Kate had some time alone.

"She's going to be a real beauty when she grows up." Rose admired. "It's strange to think how far we've all come in four years."

Jack thought to himself on that note. In the last four years, he had, as Rose said, achieved a lot. He had lost his father, only to find a new family with those on the island. He had saved many people with limited resourses. But most importantly, he had found Kate. By finding Kate, he had been given a beautiful daughter, Kaia, and most likely more children in the future, maybe a son, and more daughters. He had friendships which weren't restricted to hospital staff.

Kate had found a reason to stop running. She had found Jack, brought a child into the world, delivered Claire's baby as well. Although starting off on a rocky road where she just wanted to pack up and run, she had succeeded in earning the trust of others by telling the truth. People accepted her as who she was now, despite knowing about her criminal past. None of that mattered to them because she had helped them.

"Just think how bad you'd be if you hadn't gotten together already?" Rose said, standing up and going over to her own husband.

Kate laughed, and Jack raised an eyebrow. "Can you imagine that?" She asked.

"Us not getting together?" She nodded. Jack shook his head. "I wouldn't want to."

"Me neither." She said, kissing him finally, making sure that her hair was well out of reach of Kaia's hands.


	20. Can It Be?

Kaia began to grow into a beautiful child from the moment she was born. By the time she was a year old, and able to stand on her own two feet, she was trying to get everywhere. Wherever her feet would take her, she was happy, and it was always a challenge for whoever was with her to keep her on the ground when she found the low branched trees. Usually it was Jack who had the unfortunate knack of being with her whenever the words "Daddy, look at me!" Were spoken, and he turned to see her about six feet up in a tree, already taking after Kate.

Her first shaky steps were taken by the caves, between Kate and Jack. Jack remembered the look of surprise and pride on Kaia's face when she turned around and saw how far she had walked. Oh, how she had clapped at herself. By this time, she was speaking as well. Only a few words actually made sense in the human language, but she was picking it up well, including a few choice phrases from Sawyer which Kate had given him a good talking-to about. Her favourite word, however, was 'funny'. Whenever she was caught doing something she shouldn't be doing, going through Jack's medical supplies for example, and someone caught her, she would panick for a moment, turn around from whatever she was doing, smile sweetly, and then the word came..."Funny?" Of course, this had everyone laughing, so whatever it was she had done was forgotten.

At two years old, she already had long curls like Kate's, the same rich colour residing in both their hair. Although Kate's was longer, Kaia's already waved down past her shoulders. It was just a shame that she never sat still long enough for anyone to do anything with it, which is why it was always down, and by midday, usually full of twigs, which Kate took the opportunity to remove whenever she sat down to eat, the only time when Kaia would sit still.

In April, Kaia turned three, and a month later, in May, Kate gave birth to her second child. Kaia was excited about being a big sister, and while Kate was expecting, she gabbled to anyone who was listening about what her and her new brother or sister would do. Of course, the worries of childbirth set in again for Kate, but this time she had an easier labour, and delivered another healthy child, this time, a son, whom they named Curtis.

Two years on, Curtis was running around with his sister, now five years old, and Aaron, now nine. Like Kaia, Curtis had curly hair, although his was much shorter. Kaia's still brushed past her shoulders, and Shannon, who had once been a hairdresser, trimmed it for her regularly. Yet different from Kaia and his parents, he didn't have those brown eyes, his were dark blue - the kind that they were at birth. Jack had never known this colour before after a few weeks of the birth, because usually even the blue eyed children's eyes would become lighter, but his stayed dark blue and mysterious.

On a regularly warm evening, Kate and Claire were sitting on the beach while the children played in the sand. They were making a giant sandcastle, which was rather well constructed for children who had never seen buildings with their own eyes, and at the moment it stood as high as Kaia's shoulders. Aaron was a head taller than her, and Curtis a head smaller. It was peaceful to watch the children play together, indifferent to the situations that they had been born into.

"Nine years." Claire announced suddenly. Kate looked at her strangely. "It's been ten years since we crashed here." She continued.

Kate shook her head slightly. "When you have kids growing up, it goes so fast." She mused. "Does it ever bother you that they'll never have the luxuries they'd have back home?"

"All the time." Claire agreed. "But this is their home. They won't have a DVD player, or a car, or anything fancy like that, but they have those old cartoons they watch in the hatch, and all those books that they're learning to read."

Kate had to agree with her. Even if they were in the middle of no where, the children were well taught. Now that Walt was nineteen, Michael was teaching him the more complicated areas of construction, and teaching Aaron the basics of building. Sun and Kate taught Kaia and Aaron all about the different plant properties in the jungles, and used the books in the hatch to help them. Jack taught them the medicinal properties of what supplies they had left, and basic first aid. Kaia had even learned a few ballet moves from Shannon once. Sawyer would sit in what they called the library room in the hatch and read them the many books on the shelves in there, whether stories or information, they loved to hear anything being told to them. Charlie would play them music, surprising everyone with remembering words to songs that he had not heard in ten years, and not all of them were by DriveShaft. Kaia's favourite was when Charlie was joined by others to sing Bohemian Rhapsody, and Aaron adored Living On a Prayer. Whenever Curtis wasn't sleeping, all it took was for someone, usually Kate, to sing Art Garfunkle's Bright Eyes to him and he was asleep by the end of the song.

No, they didn't go without. In fact, they were learning things and having opportunities hear that they would never get back in civilisation. If they didn't have the threats from lurking dangers in the jungle, then life would be perfect for them. It disturbed them to know that even Curtis, at two years old, knew that the jungle was dangerous. Kaia and Aaron knew, but they hadn't developed a sense of fear yet, and at the rate they were going at, they probably wouldn't.

Also on the beach that day were Locke and Michael. They had been staring at the shoreline for hours now, and the women wondered what they were staring at. A few moments later, Michael came over to them, and crouched down, while Locke stayed where he was. "Mind if I steal your opinion for something?" He asked them, sheilding the sun from his eyes.

"Course not." Kate said. "What's up?"

Michael looked behind him at the sky, and then pointed to a specific point. Kate and Claire followed his gaze. "Do you see anything in the sky at all?"

For a few moments, Kate stared, but saw nothing. Then, she saw a tiny black dot move further away. Then, it disappeared. She frowned, was it a trick of the fading light? No. It was back again, it seemed to be circling, whatever it was. "What is that?" She asked. From the look on Claire's face, she could see it as well.

"I don't know. An aircraft of some kind we think." Michael told them.

"We're being rescued?" Claire asked quietly. Kate remained silent.

"I don't know for sure." Michael said. "Look, even if it is, then the signal fire won't alert them for an hour or so." He looked over to the large fire that burnt further down the beach. It was still burning continuously from nine years ago, in the hope of a rescue coming one day.

"Do we tell anyone?" Claire asked.

Michael shook his head. "Tell Jack, but thats it. Me and John are waiting here tonight to see if anything happens. Sayid and Charlie are here for their fire shift anyway, so we're going to keep a look out together." They nodded, then Michael nodded at the sun. "Sun's going down pretty fast today, better get those kids up to the caves before sundown."

The sun was, indeed, already sinking before the shoreline. The two mothers called the children over, and together began walking over to the caves. Kate could only see the irony of the pair talking about not being rescued, and then the possibility presenting itself only moments later.

"Are you all right, Kate?" Claire asked. "You've been so quite since we left the beach."

All Kate could think about was the rescue, and not in a good way. She had a life here on the island. She had Jack, two wonderful children, a new beginning, all of that would be taken away from her in the real world. She was a criminal, a murderer, she would be locked up, and she'd never see Jack, Kaia or Curtis again.

"I don't want to leave." Kate said quietly so that the children, who were talking, wouldn't hear. "I _can't _leave."

Claire sighed. "Kate, you're-"

"They're going to arrest me, Claire." She told her defiantly. "No matter what happens, I'll be taken away from them." She looked at her children, each holding one of her hands, oblivious to their mother's pain.

"Don't worry." Claire assured lightly. "I mean, you've got forty people here who can vouch for you being a good person. It's not like you've been a criminal here."

Kate let out a laugh at that. "I've always been a criminal."

Claire only shook her head. "No, we all got a new start here." She reminded. "You didn't chose to be a criminal, you chose to be a hero." She giggled at the idea. "Heh, you and Jack, our island heroes." Kate didn't laugh like she usually would, the sound was hollow, and Claire nudged her arm. "Hey, come on, we don't even know if it's for sure yet."


	21. Wave Goodbye To Cares Of The Day

**I'm sorry to say that this will be the last chapter before Xmas. Hopefully I'll get another one up before New Years, but if not, I hope everyone has a wonderful Xmas and New Years! I don't own Hushabye Mountain. I do own Kaia and Curtis. :D. I've been updating this randomly, but when I did this one, I heard a song that gave me a good idea for what comes next. The song is a very sad one, but don't worry, this is a Jate fic. I wouldn't let anything come between them !**

When Kate lay the children down to sleep an hour later, she paused for a moment over them, watching them sleep side by side under their individual blankets. Kaia had hers balled in her fist, and curled tightly underneath her, lying on her side as she always did, with her dark curls spread on the pillow beneath her. Curtis lay on his side with the blanket having fallen down past his shoulders. He was looking so much like Jack now. Kate sighed, a small smile passing over her lips as she pulled his blanket up to his shoulders, and stroked a hand over his curls before kissing his forehead.

She heard footsteps behind her, and knew that Jack had come into the caves. Neither of them would sleep yet, Kate knew that she probably wouldn't sleep at all that night, but she would stay with her sleeping kids all the same.

"Kate?" He asked as he came to sit beside her.

Kate smiled falsely at him, but Jack saw through it, and gave her that look. "I don't want to leave." She muttered, as his arm went around her shoulder.

"Kate..." He began, but she cut him off.

"They'll take them away from me." She said, and a tear fell down onto her cheek. Even in the darkness, Jack could see it hit her skin and trickle down her face. He wiped it away with her thumb. "They'll take you all away from me and I'll never see you again."

"Kate, even if the worst happened..."

"I don't want to see my kids growing up through a sheet of glass, Jack." She said defiantly. "I don't want to have something between us and know that I can't hold them, kiss them. I don't want to know that all three of you are going to be on the other side of that glass, and that I'm not going to be able to get through it."

"Kate, please, look at me." Jack said, but instead she dipped her head away from him, looking at the ground. Sighing softly, Jack put a finger beneath her chin and lifted it to look at her. He then cupped her cheek with his hand, and kissed her gently. When he pulled back her eyes were closed still, but when he started speaking, they opened into that shining sea that was full of emotion.

"Jack-"

"Kate, it's true. Our time here on the island might be over, but our time together isn't going to stop here. Everything you've done has made life so much better for me, for us, and nothing's going to make me leave this behind if we go home. I'm addicted to you, Kate. I've seen you cry, I've seen you smile, I've seen you sleep. We've got Kaia and Curtis. Know that my life began, and is going to end, with you, and no one else. I know that you're scared about leaving, and I don't want to go either, but we'll be fine. We'll make it, the four of us, together. Me, you, and our beautiful kids. I'm not going to let them take you way from me, Kate. I can't live without you."

Kate still had tears on her face, and she interrupted from what she was about to say by a small hand on her arm. She looked to see Curtis, who had crawled out of his bed, and over to his parents.

"Hey, sweetie, you're meant to be asleep." She told him with a smile as he crawled into her lap and sat down, just like Kate had done to Jack when she was turned into a child.

"Mommy sad?" He said, and looked around. He then pulled up the corner of his t-shirt, and stood so that he was level with Kate. Then he wiped her cheeks with the peice of his shirt. "Don't be sad, Mommy." He told her.

Kate managed a sad smile for him, and gave him a cuddle, holding him closely. "Thanks, baby." She whispered to him.

Curtis's compassion was exactly like Jack's. That was clear in how her two-year-old son had woken up to dry her tears. Jack smiled at the scene before him,and put a hand on Curtis's back, rubbing it to show that he had done the right thing. When Kate pulled away from the hug, the pushed his curls out of his eyes. "We'll have to give you a haircut soon, sweetie." She said and he frowned. He didn't like sitting still for that long, especially when scissors were involved. "Come on, little man, back to sleep for you."

"Can't sleep. No song." He told her.

Kate let out a smile which was true. Jack gave a little laugh. "Go on, Mommy," Jack teased lightly. "Give him a song."

She looked at Jack, knowing that he only did it because he liked her to sing as well. "Which song do you want tonight?" She asked. "Bright eyes or Hushabye Mountain?"

"Mountain." He told her, and snuggled into her lap.

Kate looked at Jack before she started. She liked these moments, the normal moments were nothing bad happened to them.

_"A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain,  
Softly blows, over lullabye bay.  
It fills the sails, of boats that are waiting,  
Waiting to sail your worries away."_

Kate's soft singing filled the cave, and drifted outside, to where Claire, Charlie, Shannon and Sayid, who they had been sitting with before going inside, could hear her song over the crackling of the fire. It stopped the silence between them. Aaron, who sat between Claire and Shannon, looked in the direction of the cave, and then leaned against his mother tiredly. Kate's singing had the same strange effect on children that Sawyer's voice had.

_"It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain,  
And your boat waits down by the key.  
The winds of night so softly are sighing,  
Soon they will fly, your troubles to sea."_

_"So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain,  
Wave goodbye to cares of the day.  
And watch your boat, from Hushabye Mountain,  
Sail far away, from lullabye bay."_

As she expected, Curtis had fallen asleep by the time she had finished singing. Smiling, she stood up, laying him back beside his sister, and kissing them both goodnight again. "Goodnight Angels." She whispered to them. Looking up, she saw that peaceful, thoughtful look on Jack's face as he looked upon her. "What are you thinking about?" She asked him, with one last look on her sleeping children before she went back over to Jack.

"You should really listen to what you say when you sing, Kate." He told her as she sat down, leaning against him.

"I should?" She said with a soft smile.

_" 'Wave goodbye to cares of the day'_? You should completely listen to that." He told her, leading her over to their bed. She didn't complain, she welcomed the rest, but knew that she wouldn't sleep. Infact she was determined not to. If Jack was wrong and she wasn't allowed to see them, she wanted to savour this night. What could be one of their last together. Sighing heavily, she lay down beside Jack, leaning on his chest. His heartbeat sounded through him and she paid attention to the rythmic beats.

"Jack?" She asked, fingering the bottom of his shirt that he wore, just to give her hands something to do other than making her look nervous.

He looked down at her lovingly. "Yeah, hon?"

"Whatever happens..." She began slowly. "Make sure that they know how much I love them." She said, her gaze falling over on the children once again. "Curtis is only a baby still. Dont let him forget me."

Again, Jack lifted her head to look at him. "He won't be able to forget you when he's going to see you everyday." He held her as close as he could, suddenly sharing her fears. "But if anything happens, I promise that they'll always know you."

They lay in silence, Jack staring into the darkness, and Kate at her children. Kate's crime's weren't an issue here on the island, and after nine years, there was always a chance that they wouldn't be back home.

Home.

That was a strange concept.

To Jack, home was a cave in the middle of the jungle, an hours walk from a hatch, where the dinner consisted of boar meat, fruit and fish.

To Kate, home was being able to watch her children grow up in an environment that was familiar to them, not like she did when she moved around a lot.

To Kaia and Curtis, home was an island with a gorgeous beach and trees that provided endless fun for them.

Home was an island. Home wasn't Sydney, or Los Angeles, or a farm in Iowa, like it used to be. It wasn't a car, or an abandoned shed, or a hospital. It was an undiscovered island. It didn't have terrorists, or burgleries, or the stresses of bills, money management and buying new apartments. It had survivors, kidnappings, and stresses of safety, food and water. Simple things that moved them on from day to day. They were able to live with the things they had, and they didn't need anything else except each other.

Jack turned on his side, keeping Kate held against him and fell asleep with troubled thoughts. They weren't going home - they already were home.


	22. A Promise To A Brave Girl

**Hope everyone had a great Xmas! Fess up guys, who are you looking to kiss at midnight on New Years Eve? I know who I've got in mind (Looks over at muse and sighs). Anyway...on with the chapter.**

"Mommy. Mommy, wake up."

Kate felt herself being shaken awake. She was first aware of a cold around her; the island was always warm, whether day or night, so the only presence of cold came from not waking up in Jack's arms. Turning on her side, she realised that he wasn't there, and looked up to see that Kaia was kneeling beside her with her hand on her shoulder. Kate could see a confused expression over her face. She propped herself up on her elbow, kissing her daughter's forehead and smoothing back her hair.

"What's wrong, baby?" She asked softly.

"Something's happening." Kaia said, at obvious unease.

"What's happening?" Kate asked her again.

"People are saying that we have to go somewhere."

Kate's worst fears came to mind. People saying that they were going somewhere. Leaving. She tried to hide her fears from Kaia, but found that her own fears were mirrored in her daughters eyes. "Where's your Dad?" She asked.

"He's outside with everyone. People are getting all their stuff, Mom. Where are they going? Are we going with them? I don't want to go anywhere. This is home." Kaia jabbered away. Kate struggled to her feet, still half asleep, and took Kaia's hand, leading her out of the cave.

Just before she reached the mouth of the cave, she bumped into Jack, who was just walking in, with Curtis in his arms. "Kate." He said, but couldn't find the words to say anymore. He didn't need to though, she could see it in his eyes.

"It's true, isn't it." She declared, searching his eyes for any lie and finding none. "We're finally being rescued."

For once, Kaia didn't question what her parents meant. She could sense their unease and just cowered beside her mother, holding on tight to Kate's leg. Jack looked down at his daughter, and seeing the helpless look on her face reminded him so much of the child Kate that he sighed, placing a hand ontop of her head and stroking her hair softly.

"Yeah," Jack said so quietly that Kate barely heard him. She run a hand through her hair and looked away for a moment, her eyes falling upon an equally confused Curtis. "It was a helicopter. They spotted the fire, and landed down on the beach." He repeated the events as if he were in shock. "Michael and Locke came down to camp with the pilots, and a few people are going back with them, and they're sending a boat to come get us." His eyes met Kate's finally. "It will be here at sunrise tomorrow." He said reproachfully.

Kate let two tears fall down and held herself against Jack, feeling her son's arms also wrap around her, as well as Kaia's against her legs. She showed no shame in crying, in letting out her fears. "This can't be happening." She sobbed. Sunrise tomorrow, was that all the time she had left with her family? Less than a day?

Jack whispered words of comfort to her as he held her, but they fell on deaf ears. All she could think about was being arrested, having her children and Jack taken away from her. There was no way of escape now, no way of running. When all her tears had passed, she pulled back from Jack, and looked up at him, then at Curtis, then at Kaia. She gave a sad smile.

"I'm going to miss this." She said. "Us, our family."

"Families are forever, Kate." Jack reminded. "It doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're together."

"We're not going to be together though, are we." She pointed out. "You're going to be in a lovely house somewhere, watching them grow up, seeing them smiling. I'm going to be stuck in prison somewhere in the maximum security wing." She said with a choked laugh.

"Whatever happens," Jack began, cupping her cheek, "We will be together."

"No, we won't." She said sadly, looking down and averting her eyes when he raised her chin again.

"Kate, we _will _be together." He said, more forcefully this time. "I need you to believe in that."

Trying to swallow her fears, she nodded grimly. Jack, after all, was a man of his word, and if he said he was going to do something, he did it. So if he promised that they would be together, she could hold onto that thought, knowing that whatever happened, he was doing everything he could to make that notion work.

Changing the subject a little, she wiped her tears from her cheeks. "Who's going on the helicopter?" She asked, trying to show an interest in something to get her mind off of jail.

"Michael, Walt, Shannon and Sayid." He said. "They're coming back on the boat, so it won't be the last time we see them."

"They'll come back with a list of passengers." Kate recited, remembering Sawyer's words from so many years ago. "And next to my name will be a big asterix."

"With a note underneath saying 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.'" Jack said, trying to lighten the situation. He kissed Kate, and for a short while, her fears disappeared. He tugged her hand towards the entrance of the cave. "Come on, lets go see them off at least."

Nodding, she followed him out of the cave, her eyes meeting Claire's, who's cheery optimism of the previous day was gone, and seemed to be mirroring her own feelings. Kate let her eyes fall to the ground, and focused her attentions on the others instead. She was first greeted by Shannon.

"Kate, I'm glad you're up!" She said, enveloping her in a hug. "I couldn't have left without saying goodbye to you."

"You just get us rescued, yeah?" Kate checked, and Shannon nodded.

"It's going to be strange, going back home, isn't it?" Shannon thought allowed.

"Shannon," Kate began uncertainly, "I never really thanked you." She realised.

Shannon frowned. "For what?"

"For everything." Kate said, and Shannon caught onto the train of thought. "If they arrest me on the boat then I won't get another chance to see you most likely, and you've done so much for me." Shannon's eyes were glistening as well at the idea of losing one of her closest friends. "All those years ago, when I got turned into a child, you were there as much as Jack was. When I gave birth, you were there, and you put up with my hormones as well. You've been one of my best friends here, Shannon. Thank you."

Shannon hugged her again, silently crying. "Jack won't let you be taken away from us, Kate. We'll see each other again." They looked into each others eyes, and then Shannon laughed. "What do you say? Shopping spree followed by a girly night in watching films?"

Kate laughed as well. "Yeah, that'd be fantastic."

"We'll drag Claire and Sun along as well." Shannon planned. "Think of all the movies we've missed out on while we've been here!"

Kate said her goodbyes to Sayid, Michael and Walt as well. Walt, now nineteen, said a teary goodbye to Aaron, Kaia and Curtis, whom he had grown up alongside. Kaia had to be made entirely sure that she was going to see Walt again, and Walt promised again and again that he'd return. When the four disappeared down the path with the pilot of the helicopter, Kaia howled tears against Jack's neck. Kate just looked on in silence, leaning against Jack's shoulder while Curtis waved at those going off down the path.

* * *

Kate spent every moment watching her children that day. She wanted to be with them as much as possible, just in case she was taken away from them. Eventually, she had a moment with Kaia alone, and took this moment to have a serious conversation with her. Her and Jack had already agreed that Kaia should know what might happen just in case things went wrong.

"Kaia, sweetie, things are going to change now." She said a little awkwardly.

"We're going somewhere new, aren't we." Kaia replied.

"Yes, we're going to where me and Daddy lived before we were here."

"Is it nice?" The little girl asked.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, it's an amazing place, you'll love it. You and your brother will live in a lovely house, just like you've seen in the picture books, and your Dad's going to give you everything."

Kaia spotted Kate's mistake instantly. "And you'll be there too, right?"

Kate looked away for a moment, and then back at Kaia. She tucked her daughter's messy hair behind her ears and smiled at her. "Kaia, you have to understand something for me, Ok?" Kaia nodded. "Before we came here, I did something very bad." She said.

"Something naughty?" Kaia asked.

Kate nodded. "Something very naughty."

"Did your Mommy and Daddy tell you off?" She asked in her childish innocence.

Again Kate nodded. "But sometimes, baby, there are more important people that need to sort things out." She explained. "You see, where you are going, there are people who make sure that no one does bad things to people, and when you do something that they don't like, they come after you."

"Like the people in the trees?"

"Yeah, like the people in the trees."

"They don't like us do they?" Kaia adknowledged. "They don't like me Aaron and Curtis."

"No, baby, they don't." Kaia's face fell a little. "But thats not because of something that you did. That's because of what they do."

"Oh, ok then." She said.

Kate continued. "These people are called Policeman." She said, "Do you remember them from the stories?" She asked, and Kaia nodded. "Well, when the boat comes to get us, there might be some there. If there are, then you might not see me for a while." Kate said, and saw how helpless Kaia looked at that last comment.

"How long for?" She asked, more high pitched than before, a sign of her nervousness.

"I don't know, sweetie, but it might be a long time. Don't you worry, though, because Daddy's still going to be there to look after you."

"But who will look after Daddy if you're not here?" She asked.

Kate had to smile at her innocence and simple mind. She wished that everyone could see through the eyes of a child when it came to things like this.

"Thats what I wanted to talk to you about, Kaia." Kate explained. "If the Policeman take me away, I need you to be a brave girl, and I need you to make sure that Daddy's Ok. Can you do that for me?" She asked.

Kaia's eyes were filled with tears now, which brought Kate to tears as well.

"I don't want you to go away Mommy." She said.

"I don't want to go away either." She replied.

"Then why do you have to go?" Kaia asked. "You're a good girl now, you can stay with us."

"I wish I could, baby, and if I can, you know I will. I don't want to be away from you for a single second, but these people don't forget, and they don't forgive."

"Why not?" She asked bitterly. "They should."

"I know they should, but they can't help it, that's their job."

"But I need my Mommy." Kaia croaked.

Kate let her tears spill, but wiped them away. "I need you too, and I wish so much that this wasn't happening, but I need you to be brave for me, and to look after your father." Kaia shook her head.

"No, Mommy, you're going away." She denied.

"Kaia, please." Kate begged. "For me."

Kaia looked at Kate for a long time, and then nodded.

"Thank you." Kate said, and then took her daughter in her arms and held her tightly. "Don't worry, sweetie, I'm going to do everything I can to come back. I promise."


	23. When The Fire Burns Out

As much as she hated the idea of missing time with her children, Kate fell into an unsettled sleep that night. Every second was haunted by faces...Wayne's drunken face...her mother's terrified expression in the hospital...Tom's determination to stay in the car with her, followed by his lifeless body...Sam's near embarrasment to do his duty and call the police on his step-daughter...the Marshal's teasing face, taunting her with the plane...then there was Jack's face, and Kaia's and Curtis's. She ran towards them, running as fast as she could away from the past and towards the present, to her future. Yet as fast as she ran, they were just out of reach. Jack was calling her. Kate...Kate...Kate...

"Kate?"

His voice brought her out of her nightmare, and sitting bolt upright where she came face to face with Jack. She could feel the cold sweat on her forehead, and her heart was still racing as if she really had been running.

"Kate, what's the matter?" He asked, his hand running down her cheek, feeling the heat radiating from her skin.

"Nothing." She said, shaking her head and managing to control her breathing once again. "It was just a nightmare." She told him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, feeling his hold on around her waist, and she let out a heavy sigh. He knew that she had a lot of nightmares because of her past, but he had no idea how different this was.

"You want to talk about it?" Jack asked her, wiping her hair away from her sweat beaded forehead.

"I couldn't get to you." She admitted. "You were standing there, all three of you, and as fast as I ran, I couldn't get to you. They were all behind me...Tom...the Marshall...Wayne." She tried not to cry on the final name, and leaned her head on Jack's shoulder again, taking deep breaths while he rubbed gentle circles on her back.

"It's Ok." He whispered to her. "I'm here now, you got to me." He assured her.

"And I didn't even need to run." She mused aloud, the thought of running still playing on her mind. Maybe she might still have the chance to run, to get away from them...

"Please don't run, Kate." Jack asked softly, his voice breaking slightly, as he read her thoughts. "If you run then we'll definately never see each other again."

Kate knew that he was right. If she ran, then Jack and the kids would constantly be under watch from the police, knowing that this would be where she was trying to get to. She wouldn't be able to slip past them for long, especially seeing as she had been away from running for nine years now, and when she did get caught, it would be worse for running yet again. She didn't want to be in another state, knowing that her children were growing up somewhere else in the world without her, and she didn't want them to see their mother's face on the news or on the front page of the paper for still being the criminal at large, dangerous, do not approach under any circumstances. She was sick of seeing that plastered all over the towns. Sure, at one point, it had had given her a strange kick to know that this was all attention focused on finding her, one person in six billion, but now she had a family, others to think about, the attention sickened her.

"I won't." She said after a long time, raising her head to look at him. "I won't run."

"Thank you." He whispered, and embraced her again.

"Where are the kids?" She asked him, looking over his shoulder and seeing their sleeping area empty.

"Outside playing with Aaron. Sawyer's taken them out to play a little way in the jungle, you know, one last time." He explained. Kate smiled sadly. She knew how the children, Kaia especially, would miss playing in the jungle everyday.

"Good, I'm glad they're having fun." She smiled, then her smile faded. "How long?" She asked.

He knew what she was asking. Not how long before the children were back, or how long they had been gone. Instead, it was how long did they have left? How long before the boat came? The sun was high now, around 10am already, and yet the boat, due at sunrise, was clearly not here.

"I don't know. It should have been here by now." Jack said, "But personally, I'd rather it didn't come at all."

"Me too." Kate agreed.

Jack stood up, extending his hand and letting Kate pull herself up on it. "Come on, lets go get some breakfast." He told her, and hand in hand, they walked out of the cave.

Kate looked around their camp for what would be the last time to see it funtioning normally. There was Claire, clearing up after Aaron's breakfast, talking cheerfully with Charlie while he folded up their clothes, putting them into the one suitcase they had between them. Eko and Locke were talking peacefully over some boar for breakfast, Locke leaning over to cut another chunk of meat off for Hurley, who went and sat beside them, joining in the talk. Sun and Jin were eating their breakfast quietly together, speaking in Korean even though Jin had picked up English pretty well over the years. Ana Lucia sat with Libby off to one side of the camp, Ana Lucia looking grumpy about something, while Libby seemed to comfort her about it. Kate guessed that even Ana was sad to be leaving.

The sound of giggling could be heard, and the three children, Kaia, Curtis and Aaron, came running into camp happily, spreading in different directions as Sawyer made roaring sounds and chased after them. Curtis ran straight over to Kate and hid between her legs as she sat down, crouching down low and hiding because he couldn't run as fast as the other two, who darted circles around Sawyer. Aaron was an extraordinary runner, and his reflexes were extremely fast, Kaia, on the other hand, just liked to wind Sawyer up. The ducked under low hanging braches and dodged around objects at the last minute, one time leaving Sawyer to trip over the cooler box of water, sending their water bottles spilling out onto the ground. Rather than getting angry, he burst out laughing, and Kaia and Aaron snuck up on him, both tickling him until he surrendered.

Kate ran her hands over Curtis's hair. "Don't you want to go play as well, honey?" She asked him, kissing the side of his head.

He shook his head. "No.Stay with Mommy and Daddy." He said, and then moved from between Kate's legs and crawled into the space on the log between them, sitting down and helping himself to some of the meat on Jack's plate while Kate ate her fruit. Jack didn't complain, Curtis usually did this, as he rarely ate his own food, only off of someone else's plate, usually Kaia's or Jack's. Kate remembered even as a young child, before he could even crawl, that he was always grabbing things off of plates when he could reach them, just like Kaia used to do with hair, and Aaron occassionally still did with bugs.

"We'll finally have birth certificates." Kate mused with a smile.

"And photographs." Jack added, with a little laugh. "What do you say, Curt, what do you want to do first when we get to Australia?"

Curtis thought long and hard, and then said in his childish voice. "Where's Australia?"

"That's where we're going to." Jack told him. "Where we're going to live from now on."

"What can we do there?" Curtis asked.

"Well, we can go to zoos and see the animals there." Jack explained, knowing how much Curtis was always trying to get near the wildlife of the island. "There's big tigers, lions, sometimes even bears." Jack said, watching the youngsters face light up incredulously.

"Yeah! Yeah! Wanna go there!" He said, clapping his hands together.

"Whatever you say, little man." Jack said, patting him on the shoulder. "I can't wait to show them things like ice cream..." Jack started speaking to Kate, but she was looking away, over towards the path leading to the beach. He followed her gaze, to see Sayid standing on the edge of the clearing with Shannon.

"Guys, come on!" Shannon yelled, causing the whole camp to quiet. "It's waiting for us."

They knew that by 'it', she meant the boat. Kate took a deep breath, and called for Kaia the same time that Claire called for Aaron. Sawyer walked over to Claire with the children, who was standing closer, then took Kaia over to her parents. Kaia looked a little scared. She knew what Shannon coming back meant. It meant they were going away. It mean that Kate was going away.

"Mommy." She said, and hugged Kate tightly, while Sawyer and Jack exchanged helpless glances.

Kate tried her best to show no fear infront of her children and smiled at Kaia, kissing her and hugging her back. "It's Ok, baby, just remember what I told you, Ok?" She reminded, and she felt Kaia nod against her.

"Ok." She said in a tiny voice.

The four went back to the cave, to get together the last of their belongings. There had been small children's backpacks which at first had been used for carrying smaller items around the cave, and Jack was glad that he had saved them, and he had put some food and a bottle of water each, as well as Kaia and Curtis' personal belongings so that they felt important being able to carry their own stuff. Aaron was doing the same, and they all felt strangely happy with the responsibility. Kate and Jack had their own bags, and of course, there was no need to take the airline blankets with them, but Jack had seen Kate fold one up and stow it away in the bottom of her bag anyway. Mainly, all they took was clothes, but there were other things that they wanted to take with them, to remind them of their stay.

Around his neck, Jack still had the key to the gun case, which was more of a habit now, and he still didn't take it off. Kate had a similar necklace, but hers had a seashell on, with beads made from beautiful pebbles off the beach that Kaia and Jack had made her a few years ago. Kaia had been so proud with her handiwork, that Jack had stayed up that night and made her a smaller replia for herself, so Kate and Kaia were always wearing their matching necklaces.

In the front pocket of Jack's bags were the most imporant things to them. The baby bracelets. When they had been born, Jack hade braided strands of leather from one of the shredded backpacks to create bracelets that tied snugly around the childrens wrists when they were younger. Both were so tiny, and yet they weren't as fragile as the ones they would have got from a hospital back home. In the leather, Kate had one day carved the names of the children, so that they would always know which belonged to whom.

Eventually, their cave was empty, and the couple stood together staring around the place that had been their home for nine years. "Woah." Kate commented. "It's kinda big without all our stuff."

"Yeah." Jack mused, hearing his voice echo a little somewhere near the back of the cave.

"Goodbye cave." Kaia said loudly, loving to hear her voice echo around her. The returning echoes, to her, were saying goodbye to her. "See, Curt." She said, turning to her brother who's hand she was holding. "Cave says goodbye!"

They walked back out into camp, and unlike Jack, Kate didn't look back, knowing that it would bring tears to her eyes. Standing on the edge of camp with the other survivors was heart-wretching though, and tears came to everyone's eyes. Aaron cried, screaming that he didn't want to go, and tried desperately to hide away from Charlie and Claire in the shelter. When they eventually got hold of him, Aaron cried still, and to make him feel better, Charlie whispered something to him, then slipped a bug into his pocket without Claire seeing, a reminder of the island. Kaia sniffled when she saw Aaron crying, but didn't scream and shout like he did. She just ran over to Jack and held tight to her father's hand.

Together, they surveyed the camp, and the empty ruin that was until ten minutes ago, their home. The fires that had recently been diminished still had whisps of grey smoke rising and curling in the air, giving the camp the same smell as when you blow out the candles on a birthday cake, only weaker, because none of them could remember what that smelt like anymore. All around them, twigs were dug into the ground along with leaves, where their footsteps could still bee seen in the muddier areas. On one large blank area of the cave wall, Sawyer was adding something to the carving that had once been a calender for them. They all croweded round to see Sawyer's inscription.

_We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. 48 of us crashed here on September 22nd, 2005. 41 of us were rescued on November 12th, 2014. We'll remember those we lost in our struggle to survive, and we hope that you've got the peace you deserve. Brought together and leaving together by fate. _

"Come on." Sawyer said, holding out the sharpened rock he was using. "Everyone write their names on it."

Gradually, the cave face had a list of 41 names on it. And the observed the rock again. "Now everyone will know." Sawyer said. "When people start to investigate this place with cameras and all, they'll know that this is where we lived, where we survived."

People were surprised that it was Sawyer, of all people, giving the leaving speech about their rock, with countless days and months and years all crossed over with slanted lines. But they all nodded and agreed with him, because he was right. This was where they had lived, and survived, together. And sooner or later, now that the island had been discovered, reporters, and land developers would visit the island to try and make something of it, but this area would be untouched. This special place in the heart of the island. Their camp, their home. No holiday hotel chain or shopping centre would be built over this, and not a thing would be touched. Because they had made it, and it was a sign, a living memory to those who had struggled, yet still been lost.

The walk to the beach along the familiar path was quiet, with people finally knowing that this was really the last time they would walk it. What was even worse, was the realisation that once they got to the beach, that they would need to diminish the Great Fire. The fire on the beach was still burning. Every day, wood was added, and somehow, they had managed to keep the signal fire burning for the better part of the nine years. It was their hope, their way out, and now it needed to end.

They all stood together by the fire, even though the boat was waiting down by the beach. Overnight, no one had thrown wood on it, knowing that the boat would be there tomorrow, and so it was already only the size of a regular campfire, only with a larger surface area. Like some kind of ceremony, they all stood around it with handfuls of sand, even the children. They had agreed that it should be done together, and simultaeneously, they all released the sand onto the fire. Slowly but surely, the flames became embers, and embers became ash, and the fire that had burned bright for them all was gone.

They turned towards the boat and saw that smaller boats had been there on the shore to take them to the larger one waiting just out of the shallows. Kate shifted Curtis, who had grown tired of walking, on her hip, holding him tightly for a moment, before they set of on their final walk across the beach. There, on the first boat, Michael and Walt jumped out to meet them, followed by a few sailors from each boat making sure that everyone was getting in Ok. Kate held back, and Kaia stayed with her, Jack turned to them, saw the fear in Kate's eyes, and went to them. All four of them embraced, holding on to each other tightly. Then, after they started to be harrassed to get onto the boats, some of which were already setting off across the ocean, they climbed into one of the remaining boats, and sat together silently, because no-one knew what to say. All they did was watch the beach get further and further away from them.


	24. Are We The Waiting?

Kate remained silent throughout the short trip to the larger boat, which at second glance appeared to be some sorts of a cruise liner. Kate was glad knowing that tonight, her children would sleep for the first time in a real bed. She knew that Jack would put them into a double bed with him as well, as none of the three liked to sleep alone. After the long years of finally being a family, Jack and Kate had not spent one night apart in eight years, and nearly six of those sleeping in a cave with their children beside them. No wonder neither of them had welcomed rescue.

Then, halfway to the cruise liner, it happened.

She noticed that one of the boats men was speaking into a walkie-talkie, communicating with the other boats and ticking off the names of survivors on the manifest. She heard them mention Claire and Aaron, that he had been born on an island. Then, after an age it seemed, he came over to them. Kate grimaced, and Jack grasped her hand reassuringly. She managed to give him a small smile. There was no running this time.

"Ok guys, mind if I check your names?" The Australian man, Ken, asked them cheerfully.

"Jack and Kate Sheppard." Jack answered for them. Kate smiled, it wasn't the first time she imagined his surname with her forename, but it was the first time that he had spoken it. It made it sound real, attainable even. In everyway except the ceremony, however, they were married.

The man looked down the list. "I've not got a Kate Sheppard." He said awkwardly, eyeing Kate with a strange look.

Kate sighed, and looked at her children, who were staring up at their parents, slightly confused. Curtis sat in Kate's lap, as she had needed to stop him leaning over the side of the boat and falling in the water. Kaia could swim, yet this far out it was a no go. Usually it was only in the shallows of the sea on a calm day, and Curtis was way too young in her eyes seeing as they had no inflatables for him. However, she had expected curious Kaia to be the one leaning over the edge, yet it was Curtis who struggled against her to try and dip his hands in the passing waves.

"Austen." She said heavily, feeling like she was handing herself over. "Kate Austen."

The man grinned cheerfully again. "That's the one. There you are." He ticked her name, and then crouched down to the kids. "Pretty kids. They on the flight?" He asked innocently.

"No." Jack said. "They were born on the island."

"Aha, just like the other little guy." He noted, meaning Aaron. "And what are your names?"

"Kaia-Sahara, and my brother's called Curtis." Kaia said proudly. Kate always loved that tone of voice in her daughter when she spoke her full name, how proud and sure she was of herself. She smiled softly, smoothing her hair for a moment, and catching Jack's eye.

"Pretty names too." The boatsman complimented. "Can you tell me how old they are?"

"Kaia's five, and Curtis is two." Kate answered softly.

"Both surname Sheppard?"

Kate nodded. He made a note of their names on the bottom of the manifest. "Well, thats all thanks." He said, wandering back off and speaking into the walkie-talkie, announcing their names.

On the other boat, Claire, Charlie, Sun, Shannon and Sawyer all heard Kate's name being announced, over the manifest. They exchanged mixed glances, which all turned to ones of panick and worry when they heard the boatsmen turn into his radio and mutter into it.

"Boat 12 to Main deck."

"Recieving boat 12, go ahead."

"Yes sir, we've got Austen."

"Ready and waiting for you boat 12, over."

Claire looked like she was about to cry. "Oh no." She whispered. She glanced over the side of the boat, spotting Jack and Kate in the last boat on their own. By the look of things, Kate had no idea what was about to happen when she hit the deck. They were clearly waiting to arrest her. Claire looked at Charlie desperately, as if he could help in some way, but all he could do was put an arm around her shoulders. He was about to speak when Sawyer spoke instead.

"It was her choice." Sawyer announced, again, showing a deeper side of him that day.

"She chose to go to prison?" Shannon asked incredulously.

"No." Sawyer said, shaking his head sadly, and looking in the same direction as Claire. "She chose to stop running."

Kate and Jack had been talking on the boat, and hadn't heard the message being sent across about Kate. Unfortunately, nearly everyone else had, and were all thinking the same thing. Shit.

She was the last to step onto the boat, with Curtis in her arms, and Kaia in Jack's as they stepped onto the hardwood deck, and she looked around at the fellow survivors. All of them looked at her with terrified glances, and some sympathetic, while some, like Sawyer's, were as more determined than anything else. She didn't notice anything wrong, until she heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked beside her.


	25. Let Me Go

She froze. The sound was all to familiar even after it was so long since it had been held at her. All around her, people gasped, Kaia looked like she was about to cry, scared at what she was seeing - four armed men aiming handguns at her mother. Two of the Marshalls came pushing through the crowd of survivors, and the other two were already either side of her. She met the eyes of the other survivors…Claire…Charlie…Sayid…Michael…all staring at her, waiting to see what would happen, whether she would fight, or do the right thing.

It moved quickly, and then seconds later, she was standing in the middle of the deck, and again, standing deadly still. In those few seconds, however, Jack had been removed from her side at gunpoint, having immediately shifted position so that in the worse case, Kaia was out of the line, and Kate chased into the centre of the deck. Jack fought to keep Kaia in his arms, who was squirming and struggling trying to get to Kate. Kate felt hot tears fall down her cheeks as she held Curtis to her tightly.

"Mommy, what's happening?" He asked her as he hugged her back just as tightly. He was just as scared as she was. She looked over at Jack, who still had the gun trained on him not to move, and saw that same fear reflected again in both his and Kaia's eyes.

"Jack…" She murmured, although he could only see her lips moving, he was too far away to hear the pained whimper that had escaped her. She felt isolated, physically seperated from him for the first time in years. She wanted to be held in his arms, with her children at her side, safe, wanted, untouchable.

Kaia shouted out bravely, determination written on her face. "LEAVE MY MOMMY ALONE!" One of the Marshals looked at Kaia. "My Mommys lovely. She's the best Mommy ever!"

This made Kate cry even more, and one Marshal approached her, and she could see all the satisfaction written on his face even though he was trying to look as professional as possible. "Katherine, put the boy down." It was the first time she had been called Katherine since she had been to see her mother, since Tom died.

She shook her head, holding closely to the one lifeline she had left, and turned her body so that Curtis was shielded by her from them. "No." She whispered.

"Put the boy down." He repeated louder.

Curtis started crying, the sound of the men shouting at Kate scaring him, and Kaia followed suit, although more of hers were actually desperate screams. Even though he was separated from Kate, he wasn't with the rest of the survivor either, and when the Marshal aiming at him stopped and turned his weapon on Kate instead when she refused to put Curtis down.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" He yelled and Kate began to sob as well.

Jack stepped forward, Kaia no longer struggling in his arms but howling against his chest. Beyond him in the crowd, he could hear Aaron crying as well, with Claire trying to comfort him - Aaron had seen too much of guns in his life. Jack stepped in front of Kate as best he could, and felt her rest her forehead against the back of his shoulder, unable to hold him like she wanted to because she had to hold onto Curtis.

"Sir, move away." Another Marshal instructed.

"I'm not moving anywhere." Jack said determinedly. On a completely surprising streak of protection, he was joined by Sawyer on her other side. The two men shared a quick glance, even though Sawyer had always competed for Kate's heart, they knew that it was time to work together for her, and they nodded simply, a sign of this one-off teamwork. "She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Both of you, get back now!"

"Will you stop shouting, you're scaring the kids!" Jack yelled back, putting his hand on the back of Kaia's head. All he could hear was the three people he loved crying so close to him.

Yet this did nothing to stop them shouting at them still. "TAKE THE KIDS, AND MOVE AWAY FROM HER."

Again, they didn't move. "If you don't move, we'll be forced to take action."

That was enough for Kate. "No…" As soon as those words had left his mouth, she raised her head from Jack's shoulder, blearily noticing his determined expression through her tearstained eyes. "Jack…" She began. She didn't want him to get hurt. "He's right."

He shook his head. "No." He answered. "No, I'm not going anywhere."

"Please?"

"I'm not leaving you, Kate." He said more surely.

"I don't want them to hurt you like they hurt Tom." She said in a complete state. Without waiting for Jack to answer, she looked at Kaia, who was staring at her with pleading eyes. "You be a good girl, you hear me?" Kate said to her softly, stroking her cheek and placing a strong kiss on her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you, Mommy." Kaia cried back, giving her a sloppy kiss.

Kate did the same to Curtis, before reluctantly letting Sawyer take him from her. Her hands seemed to linger, not wanting to let go of him. Then she looked up at Jack. "I love you, Jack." She told him, her voice almost silent. "Thank you, for everything."

"This isn't goodbye, Kate." He told her, bringing his free hand to her cheek. "We talked about this, we aren't saying goodbye, remember?"

She looked into his tear-filled eyes and nodded. "Unless I don't get another chance, I need you to know. My heart only ever belonged to you, and it always will."

"Kate…"

"Don't let them forget me, Jack."

"Sir, step away from her."

But he didn't step away, he leaned forward and kissed her. They both knew how much this kiss meant to the other, and didn't hold back. There was nothing in the world that meant more to them at that moment than pouring nine years of love into a single kiss. As their faces brushed against each other, they both felt the tears that stained their cheeks. However, their final moment was brought to an end as Kate was ripped from him, and he opened his eyes to see her being forced against the banister of the boat.

They clapped the handcuffs on her, which brought back the reality of her past more than the guns did. The cold metal almost stung her skin. "Katherine Austen, you are under arrest for murder. You do not have to say anything, yet anything you do say can and will be held against you in court." Their voices trailed off, and Kate let them pull her back into a standing position, no physical match for the four armed men that now held her arms.

In a daze, she looked back at her family, at Kaia, at Curtis, at Jack, as she was escorted from the deck. She had thought she was home free. Now she didn't have a home. Her only home was far behind her, and she had been forced away from it as she had been dragged away from Jack. She collapsed into silent sobs as they rounded a corner with her, and she could no longer see them.

The rest of the survivors came over to Jack, filling in the gaps that had been created around them by the marshals. He looked so helpless. Kaia was crying in his arms, and Curtis in Sawyer's. Jack stared blankly at the place in which he had last seen Kate. It seemed impossible that three days ago they were happy on their home island, having fully adjusted to their life there, and now she had been dragged from him in handcuffs. Kate…his Kate…Kate Sheppard. That's what he had said on the smaller boat. He had promised her the wedding of her dreams…

"Jack…."

He snapped out of his daze to see Claire standing beside him, her hand on his upper arm comfortingly. Suddenly, he could hear the kids crying again, and buried his head against Kaia's hair as he cried himself silently. He wanted nothing more than to stamp and scream like a child would, but he knew that he couldn't. The kids needed him, and they needed him to be strong.

"Daddy..." Kaia sniffled, and Jack raised his head, to see that she was looking at him with tear stained eyes. She looked so broken, and so much like Kate, that it pained him to see her cry. Jack notioned to Sawyer, to passed Curtis to him. Jack settled his son on his other hip, and kissed both his children.

"Mommy will be Ok, Daddy." Kaia said with another sniff. "She said that she'd come back to us. She promised that she'd try."

Jack nodded, inwardly smiling at Kaia comforting him. "Yeah, she did promise."

"Mommy never breaks her promises." Kaia reminded him with a firm nod.

Curtis pulled a hand up and wiped his eyes on his wrist. Then he leaned forward closer to Jack, and pulled up the corner of Kaia's long sleeved shirt. He used to corner in his hands to wipe the tears from Jack's cheeks. So many of the survivors were brimming tears in their eyes, watching Jack's tears be tried by the little boy, and Jack kissed him again.

"I love you guys so much." Jack told them as they both hugged him.

"Love you too, Daddy." They chorused.


	26. Shopping

The survivors were shown to their rooms. Most of them just had individual rooms with the one double bed, but Jack and Charlie were first to get into the larger rooms which had twin beds as well. Jack knew that there was no way that the kids would sleep in the beds at first, but these rooms were larger than the rest, and so he could do with the extra room for them. Charlie, Claire and Aaron's suite was just beside Jack's, and they parted ways last, with Claire giving Jack a hug before running off. Although they pretended not to see it, they also saw that Aaron gave Kaia and Curtis a cuddle as well when they thought that the parents weren't looking.

The room was large enough, with the two twin beds mirroring the double bed on the other side of the room. It was blandly coloured, and little decoration, but it was still more than they were used to. There was a small chest of drawers in the corner with a clock and on it, and another door off the side which lead to a small bathroom. Either side of the beds were tables with matching lamps on, and the first thing Kaia did was go over to the window. Even jumping she couldn't see out of it, so she climbed up on the bed beside it and leaned against the glass.

"Daddy. Look!" She said excitedly, already having cheered up a little.

Jack crossed the room, setting Curtis down on the bed beside his sister, and looked out of the window with Jack. On the horizon, you could see the island still.

Curtis saw it and waved at it. Kaia put her hand flat on the glass. Jack just stared at it.

"Can we go back to see it one day?" She asked.

"One day." Jack answered, knowing that within a few years there would probably be a holiday resort on the island. "One day."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Kaia always held strong to promises. She remembered every one that people made her, and every reassurance that she needed could be solved with a promise.

Together, they watched the island disappear off the horizon, for how long they didn't know, it seemed to take a while, and then there was a knock on the door. Jack crossed the room and opened it, to see Shannon and Claire standing there. Behind them, a grumpy looking Sayid, and a disgruntled Charlie holding a stroppy Aaron on his shoudlers were standing leaned against the back wall.

"Hey guys." Jack said, eyeing them curiously.

"Jack, come on." Shannon said.

"Huh?"

"We've been investigating, and there's near enough a mall on this cruise liner." Claire said. "And we've been told to buy as much as we want or need to be billed to Oceanic."

"So seeing as they're paying, we're taking full advantage of it." Shannon pointed out.

Jack stood still for a moment, knowing how much they would need to buy. "Wait a second..." He said suspiciously. "This is going to involve clothes isn't it?"

All of them nodded, even the grumpy Aaron. Shopping with Claire and Shannon did not seem like a fun idea. Kaia and Curtis came to the door at Jack's feet. "Come on kids, time to go shopping." Shannon announced brightly.

Kaia, who had heard a lot about the things you could buy from Shannon, broke into a happy grin. "Daddy! Daddy! Come on, let's go! I want to go shopping! She jumped up and down pulling on his hand so cutely that Jack smiled and shook his head.

Shannon joined in. "Come on, Jack, Oceanic owe us. Let's spend their money."

"Alright, let's go."

If only he knew what he was letting himself in for.

* * *

The first shop they came to was a toy shop. Curious, the older two children approached it cautiously, looking inside before taken in by Charlie, who was definately excited about being in a toy shop. It was only small, but Jack imagined the money they must make from parents being forced into buying their children holiday souvineers from the cruise. There were board games, which Sayid was looking at, particularly Trivial Pursuit, all along one wall. The middle aisles were filled with different toys for different ages.

It was fairly difficult at first, because Kaia had grown up in the wild with two boys as her only child companions. Shannon and Claire were desperately trying to show her the girl's toys like dolls and child's make up sets and costume jewellery, even dressing up sets, but Kaia kept wandering off to join Aaron and Charlie, who were playing with toy guns and running around the shop wildly. Eventually, Kaia decided that she wanted some dolls, and she had chosen some teddies as well. Some quickly translating into seven, because she couldn't decide which ones she wanted most, and Jack knew that she had never had a real teddy to call her own, so he let her have them all.

Aaron was the easiest to choose from, wanting noisy guns and he and Charlie picked out some of those build-your-own hovercraft and spaceship sets, which a sneaky Sayid was also looking at.

Curtis would have been happy for years in the toy shop, in Jack's arms as they walked around looking at everything there was. He wanted some of the action figures that were brightly coloured and took his attention, and Jack got them for him even if he knew that Superman would have lost his head by the end of the month. The teddies caught his eye too, and he only chose one, not giving the others a second look once the pale blue rabbit wearing pyjamas had caught his eye. His fascination with it was adorable. Also were the packs of toy animals that he refused to leave the store without.

The next stop was a clothes shop, much to the male's horror. Aaron complained, and ended up being dragged into the children's section by Claire, because he didn't want to change out of his mud covered torn t-shirt. Kaia had much the same attitude, but when Jack said to her that she could have whatever she wanted, he immediately had to add from the girls section because she started to follow after Claire and Aaron into the boys. Shannon joined him in helping to shop for girls clothes, noting aloud how the fashions had changed.

Sayid was carrying Curtis so that he didn't wander off while Jack focused on pleasing Kaia. They looked through endless racks and outfits. Dresses and skirts were a no from the start, or at least, the ones that Shannon picked out were, because Jack thought that they were way to short for a five-year-old. When Jack had said this, Shannon had mocked him for being an overprotective father, and assured him that it would be many years before she got into the back of her boyfriends car. This hadn't made Jack feel any better. As far as he was concerned, his daughter would never be getting into her boyfriends car, romantic intentions or not.

They were still shopping for Kaia long after Charlie and Claire were done with Aaron. Curtis had fallen asleep on Sayid's shoulder, long past due for his nap. Then they found it.

"Kaia!" Jack called to her over where she was standing grumpily beside Shannon, who was looking at a mass of sale items that in all words were hideous, even Kaia could see that. "Kai," He used the shortening of her name that always made her eyes perk up, "Kai, come here, you'll like this one."

"That's what you said last time!" She protested tiredly, but going over anyway. This shopping wasn't turning out to be as fun as Shannon said it would be.

"It's different this time."

"You said that last time as well." She pointed out.

Jack lifted her up and showed her the outfit that was on display by one of the manequins, and Kaia gasped. "Yeah, Daddy, I want that one!"

"Thought you would."

And so they found Kaia the perfect outfit. They didn't let her see the other t-shirts and pairs of jeans that they got her, because they knew that she would protect, but she carried the new clothes to the checkout proudly, even telling the sales assisstant that her daddy said she would look beautiful in them. It was a knee length blue demin skirt that had patterns of butterflies and flowers by the right knee. To go underneath it, seeing as the air conditioning was something that the children weren't used to, and shivered to as they walked around the shops, was a pair of winter tights in a creme colour. There was a long-sleeved top in navy blue which had similar patterns to the skirt around the wrists and neckline, and a sleeveless jacket with fur edges and a suaed body. And too rightly, no outfit was complete without a pair of shoes, which turned out to be a new pair of sneakers which fit properly, and a pair of black boots without a heel to go with the new outfit.

For Curtis, Jack had to pick the clothes for him, and got a stack of t-shirts and sweaters, with different pairs of trousers. They measured his feet as well, choosing him a pair of sneakers that they knew he would like because they had blue stripes on, and then finally went to pay for the children's clothes.

Then came the more greulling task - the adult section. Immediately, Charlie, Sayid and Jack picked out the basics that they needed, plus a few more at the ladies insistance, paid for them, and then went to the seats outside the changing rooms, where they bumped into Sawyer.

"Sawyer, what are you doing here?" Jack asked with a laugh while Kaia ran to show him her new outfit.

"Same as you by the looks of it." He replied notioning to the bags hanging from the men's arms, and then nodding in the direction of the bags beside his chair. "Ana L wants a second opinion."

'Ana L' as he appropriatly nicknamed her, had definately become favourable of Sawyer's attention. Over the past few years, they had clearly tried to hide the sexual tension between them to the eyes of the other survivors, but they weren't blind, and unfortunately...they weren't deaf either on the nights where they decided to give into such temptations. The fact that Sawyer was here with Ana Lucia was no surprise to them at all.

Kaia took the chair beside Sawyer, and Jack sat down next to her, placing their bags on the floor. Sayid handed him back Curtis, still asleep, and took the far seat while Charlie sat on the floor after begging for Kaia's seat and failing. Aaron shared Kaia's chair for a while, both of them fitting easily into the armchair-like seat, before taking pity on Charlie and joining him on the floor.

After half an hour, Ana Lucia started to come out every ten minutes and get Sawyer's opinion. Every comment drew a stifled laugh from one of the others. Particularly when she had left the changing room in a summery dress, and Sawyer had asked how long it would take to get it onto the floor. To no surprise, she had brought that one, even though she never seemed like the dress type.

Then Claire and Shannon started to do the same. When Sayid and Charlie began complimenting them on the clothes to get out of there as soon as they could, Jack felt slightly jealous. How he would have loved to sit and watch Kate walk out from behind the curtains in a different outfit every time, every one complimenting her wonderful figure with ease. Even though she wouldn't admit it, he knew that she would have loved to spoil herself in the clothes shop on the luxurious dresses, and to get a pair of jeans that weren't torn or had the stitching ripped at the bottoms. He sat there silently, watching Sawyear teach Aaron and Kaia how to play Blackjack, telling the fathers that it was to improve their maths skills, (which was a poor excuse because they had been able to count to twenty one for ages), and watching Aaron sleep in his arms.

The reality of Kate not being there anymore was finally beginning to sink in. When the marshals had taken her around the corner, Jack had been convinced that she would fight them off, and come running back to them. But she hadn't, and tonight she wouldn't be in his arms, and he wouldn't wake up to see her face. He'd rather see her face creased with worry through one of her nightmares, and have her eyes snap open in the familiar terror associated with her past, which soon melted into ease when she saw Jack hovering over her, than to not see her at all.

Eventually, all three women announced they were done, and paid for. At the counter, Jack looked back into the women's section...maybe he should have got something for-

"Jack." Claire interrupted him, handing him a bag from the counter.

He took it, and noticed that it had womens clothes in. Claire had just completed the thought that he had been pondering. "Claire..."

"They're for Kate." She said simply. "As if being seperated from you isn't bad enough, at least she can have some clean clothes for a change."

"Thanks." Jack said softly.

"Don't worry, Jack. Everything will turn out Ok in the end." Shannon offered kindly.

"And if it doesn't, then it isn't the end yet." Claire added brightly.

Jack had to smile at their optimism.

"Besides," Claire continued. "Now they'll have to let you in to see her."

That was something that Jack hadn't had time to think about yet. For the last few hours he had been so rushed off his feet with the kids that even when Claire presented him with clothes for Kate, it hadn't crossed his mind that he might be able to see her. He had been with her that morning, and they had only been apart for four hours already, but it felt like a life time. She had been out in the jungle for longer than that, and it had felt like forever because he was worried that she might get hurt, but now he had to know that she was alright, otherwise he might never sleep at night again.

"Claire, Can you-"

He was going to ask if she would watch the kids that afternoon so he could go down to where Kate was being held, if he could find it, and if he could find a way to get in. But Claire cut him off before he could ask.

"Now, we'll finish up shopping with the kids and then take them for a walk to burn off all this energy they have. You go see Kate."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked.

"Jack, go. She needs you. And we need shampoo, toothpaste, toiletrees, before the test later." Claire told him.

"Wait a second...what test?" Jack asked.

"A medical test. They told us about it when they were showing us to our rooms, but you were pretty much out of it." Shannon told him.

A medical test...perfect.

Jack broke into a smile.

"I know how I can get to see, Kate." He told them, choosing not to elaborate on that comment. "Kai?" Kaia came over obeidiently, and Jack kissed her forehead. "Give me a message to tell your Mom."

"Are you going to see Mommy?" Kaia asked.

"Yeah, but I need a message from you to make her happy." Jack told her.

"Tell her that she'll look pretty in her new clothes, and that she's the best Mommy in the whole world. Oh, and tell her that I'm doing what she told me to do."

"What did she tell you to do?" Jack asked.

"It's a secret!" Kaia explained.

"Ok, you be good for Claire and Charlie. I'll see you later, Ok."

"Ok, Daddy."

Jack said goodbye to the rest of them, and then ran off out of the shopping centre of the cruise liner.


	27. Round Three

First, Jack had gone to the medical department of the cruise ship. There he had explained about Kate, and found out that she hadn't been scheduled for a check at all because she was in custody. Jack had convinced them to let him do the check, and they told him what they were looking out for, and gave him a copy of the sheet to make notes on. Then he had set out getting directions as to where Kate was. After half an hour, he was suddenly at the other end of the boat, on the second to bottom deck, and standing at the end of the corridor from her room.

Standing outside were two of the marshals, and the other two were obviously working as part of a shift to stand guard. Taking a deep breath, Jack approached the two marshals.

"Excuse me, Sir." One of them said, "No further than this. She's dangerous."

"And she may be ill." Jack added. "I'm here to conduct the medical examination on her."

He showed them the sheet that the docters were using, and they confired for a moment. Jack's heart ached to get through that door, to get to Kate.

"What's in the bag?" One asked.

"Clothes." Jack said simply.

"Alright. In you go."

Surprised at how easy that had worked, Jack entered the room, watching the Marshal close the door behind him. He watched it for moment, until it was completely shut, and then he heard a tiny voice behind him.

"Jack...?"

He turned to face her. She looked a complete wreck. Her eyes were still red from crying, her cheeks showing stains of dried tears. She was lying on her side on what appeared to be a lumpy bed, with a flat pillow. Hardly the five star room the rest had been given. Her dark hair was hanging loosely over her shoulder, falling forward as she propped herself up on one arm to face him.

"Kate..." He whispered, and crossed the room, dropping to his knees at the side of the bed, and taking her in his arms.

"Jack, you're here." She said softly, not crying, but holding him tightly, amazed that he was actually there. "How did you get them to let you in?" She asked.

Jack pulled away and kissed her. "I'm doing your medical check." He told her simply.

She nodded. "How long have you got?" She asked, nodding her head in the direction of the door.

"I don't know, they didn't say." Jack answered, stroking his hand down her cheek. "I'm so sorry I didn't stop them." He said with tears in his eyes.

"I asked you to let them take me, Jack. You know they would have hurt you, and taken me anyway." She reminded him. "I couldn't risk you getting hurt, not when the kids..." Her voice choked, and she had to look away, but Jack raised her chin to look at him.

"They're fine." He told her softly. "They're Ok."

"Where are they?" She asked, looking around as if expecting to see them standing in the corner of the room.

"Charlie and Claire are finishing up with the shopping with them." He told her, opening the bag up. "Claire and Shannon picked you out some new stuff." He said, taking out the clothes and laying them on the bed beside her. "Figured you wouldn't want to be stuck in this stuff for long."

Kate nodded. "Thank you."

"Kate, I know that you'll hate me for this, but I need a blood sample." He told her.

She grimaced, but nodded anyway, holding out her arm as Jack prepared to take the sample. She looked up at the ceiling as Jack drew the blood, not wanting to look at the needle.

"So, you did the shopping thing already?" She asked, wanting to ask him anything just to hear his voice for a bit longer.

"Yeah, it was a nightmare." He said, but smiled anyway. "Your daughter is as fussy with clothes as you are with food."

Amazingly, this brought a soft laugh to Kate's lips. "What did they get?"

"Curtis was asleep, we got him some things, but there wasn't much there for his age. Charlie made us get the t-shirt that said Momma's boy on it." Again, Kate smiled, closing her eyes and trying to picture the scene. "Kaia got this gorgeous little set. Skirt and top with a jacket. She even carried it around the shop herself."

"I miss them already." Kate admitted. "It's so quiet in here."

She missed the jungle sounds, and the sound of the crashing waves, which she could not hear from her room. She missed the smell of the forest and campfires. She missed the sounds of the children running and playing, of people talking amongst themselves. She missed everything.

"Kaia said that she loves you, and that your the best mom in the world." Jack told her, bringing a peaceful look to the mothers face. "She said that she's doing what you asked her to." She met his eyes.

"I knew she would."

"What did you ask her to do? She said it was a secret." Jack said with a small laugh. "Or is this one of those mother-daughter things that I don't want to know about?"

"I asked her to look after her Dad and her brother for me, and make sure that you both stay out of trouble, and to make sure that Daddy looks after himself." She revealed, remembering their conversation in the cave yesterday. Had it really been only last night?

"Don't worry. I'm going to try and find a way out of this." He told her. "It's been four hours and I'm nearly dead inside. I'm not going to let them take you away from me." She nodded weakly. "And until then, I'm going to make them let the kids in to see you."

She turned her head sharply. "Jack, they won't allow it." She said softly.

"Yeah they will." He said determindley. "I'll find a way. Just hold on, Ok." She nodded again, returning her head to the pillow weakly, closing her eyes. "Tired?" He asked, leaning over her and stroking her face softly.

"No." She said, "Just...feel a bit weak."

Jack frowned, and conducted the rest of the examination. "Tell me exactly how you feel." He said, noting her pale complexion even more now he was close up.

"A bit...spinny." She said. "Nauseous...and uh...late."

"Late?" He asked, raising his head from where he had been checking her pulse. "As in..."

"Yeah, as in period." She finished, looking up into his eyes.

"Why didn't you say earlier?" He asked, cupping her face yet again as her hand came to rest over his.

"With the rescue going on I didn't notice, but I've had a lot of time to think so far, it kinda dawned on me a few hours ago." She admitted. Jack was silent for a minute. "Jack...please, say something...anything."

Jack smiled softly. "How about that I love you." He leaned down and hugged her, letting their arms entwine and he kissed her hair. "So...round three?" He joked, and she laughed as well, tears on her cheeks. He saw these when they pulled back. "Uh oh, hormones."

She shook her head. "I'm just worried that they'll take it away when it's born." She sniffed.

"They can't. You'll be long out of here by then. I promise." He said, and then one of the marshals came in.

"Will I?" She asked, seeing them,

"Times up." The marshal said, and Jack kissed her before standing to leave.

"Love you." Kate sniffed.

"Love you too."

"I said times up."

Jack left unwillingly, hating to have to walk away from Kate. One thing was for sure now - he was definately getting her out of there. He leaned against the wall outside, not paying any attention to the marshals, and let the news sink in that Kate was pregnant again.

"So, doctor, what do you suggest?" One marshal asked in all seriousness. "Got a way to stop her crying, it's doing our heads in already."

Jack turned to them. "I suggest that you let the mother see her children."


	28. Coping

CHAPTER

The next morning, Jack awoke without the sunlight shining onto his face, as he was used to. Instead, looking around him groggily, he saw that the curtains were closed over the window, and that only a small amount of light was escaping through the bottom. There was no sounds around him that showed him that he was home, and in all truth, he was simply drifting further away from home. Turning on his side, he reached blindly for Kate, wanting to pull her closer to bring back the island warmth.

However, his arm fell down further than it should.

Opening his eyes fully and waking up a little more, he saw that his arm was now hanging off the edge of a double bed, his fingertips almost brushing the floor. He turned on his other side, seeing Kaia and Curtis still asleep on the other side of the bed. No Kate. Then it started to come back to him. Kate...arrested...Kate...gone...Kate...ill...Kate pregnant. He ran his hands over his face, willing himself to be strong, and found that the sight of his sleeping, peaceful children, gave him hope.

It was strange, alien, to see them in pyjamas. Both of them were in the full length pyjamas with the buttom up shirts, Kaia's in pink, and Curtis's in blue. Kaia had about five teddies providing pillows whichever way she chose to lay, which at the moment was with her arm hanging off the bed exactly how Jack's had been a moment ago, and Curtis was just curled in a ball around the rabbit he had chosen between where Jack was lying and Kaia was lying, seeing as he was most likely to roll off the edge. Jack got out of bed, and then went over to the other side, carefully moving Kaia so that she wouldn't fall off the edge of the bed. He guessed that this was one thing he'd have to get used to.

He caught the sight of a clock that read 6.30. He sighed to himself, even though he was off the island he was still up at dawn. Usually, by his guess, the children woke up at about 7, so he took the chance for a quick shower, with real shower gel and not the hatch brand, before they woke up.

Before he left the bathroom, he had hoped that by some miracle, he would walk through the door to see Kate lying in the bed, all three of them curled up snuggly, warm and comfortable. Yet he knew that this wouldn't happen. He was a miracle worker, but he knew how rare they were. The granter never gets granted. All he wanted was for his family to be together again.

He hated that he had to leave Kate in that awful room yesterday, seeing how uncomfortable she was on the rickety old bed and the painfully thin pillow. It was better than nothing, but his Kate deserved to be treated like a queen, and more importantly, she deserved to be with her family.

Family...Jack looked on his children, wondering how they would react to another one. He had always known that with the non-existant contraception on the island, that Curtis would not have been their last child. He was more worried about Kate and the baby's health this time around, however. Kate's pregnancy with Kaia had been...extraordinary in the least words, but as soon as she was back in her own body, it was a healthy pregnancy. When she was expecting Curtis, he had become worried, but there was always that reassurance that the first pregnancy had gone smoothly, so he didn't feel like there was always a danger around her. This time, however, he knew that he wouldn't be able to take care of her, which, if possible, made him even more determined to get her out of there. The last thing he wanted was to have lost a child due to the precautions that were taken before Kate's trial.

Now that he was wearing some new clothes, just a simple navy t-shirt with jeans, not much more elaborate than what he wore on the island, he sat back down on the edge of the bed, sighing into his hands for a moment, and resisting the temptation to scream into a pillow. No, he couldn't do that, he'd wake the kids. As if on cue, a pair of small arms wrapped themselves around his neck, and he put his hands over them softly, placing a gentle kiss on the skin around the tiny wrist.

"Morning, Daddy." Kaia said quietly, not wanting to wake Curtis up.

"Hey, angel." He replied softly. "Did you like sleeping in a real bed?" He asked, trying to keep the mood light.

She nodded. "It's really soft and bouncy."

Jack let out a small laugh. "Yeah, it is."

"Can I have one?" She asked. "When we get a house? Can I have a bed like this one?"

Jack had to smile at her innocence, and wished that he was so young again. "We'll get you the very best one, all for yourself." He promised her.

"Thanks, Daddy." She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Then she frowned a bit. "Will Curtis have one too?" She asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

"And you and Mommy?"

There it was, the talk that Jack had been avoiding all morning. When they asked about Kate. What did he tell them? How did he tell them? Did he say anything about the baby? No, it was still early days, that was something they would do together.

So he did the only thing he could do.

"Yeah, me and Mommy will have one too." He told her. Then he rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. "Come on, let's get you dressed, then when Curtis wakes up we'll go get some breakfast." He told her. He stood up and crossed the room, going over to where last night he had folded up all their new clothes and put them in piles to seperate them. He was about to ask Kaia what new clothes she wanted to wear, when the door knocked.

Kaia was intrigued by this, and seeing as she was only used to the doors being knocked in the hatch, she jumped up to open it herself, thinking that it was Aaron or Charlie. She stood there for a moment, and then spoke out to Jack.

"Daddy, there's some men here." She said in a strange voice.

Jack crossed the room again, and was met with the sight of two of the US Marshals that had been stationed outside of Kate's room yesterday. "Dr Jack Shephard?" One of them asked.

Jack nodded, wondering if they always travelled in pairs. "Is everything alright?", checking over his shoulder to see if Curtis had been awakened by the sudden amount of noise.

"It's about your proposal to stop Ms. Austen making such a goddamn noise." He continued. "We don't think that she got much sleep last night with the amount of crying and complaining that came through the door, and even though it's not allowed, we'd like to grant you the proposal."

Jack stared for a moment, and then looked down at Kaia, who was standing obediently beside his leg. "Wait...we can see her?" He checked, making sure that he hadn't heard them incorrectly.

"If we take her back for questioning in the state she is in now, we will probably lose our jobs. We are solely interested in the temporary welfare of Ms Austen, not her family." He defended. So that was it, nothing to do with the kids, it was so they could get some peace on the graveyard shift.

But they could still see her.

"Daddy, are we going to see Mommy?" Kaia asked hopefully, and Jack looked down at the little girl tugging on his jeans, her head resting against his hip.

Jack nodded slowly, and then laughed. "Yeah, we're going to see Mommy." He told her, as the two Marshals went back down the corridor from where they came. "We're going to see Kate."

Kaia insisted that she wore her new favourite outfit that she had fallen in love with yesterday, and before she put it on, Jack bathed her and then dried her hair so that for the first time, her soft curls hadn't taken four hours to dry fully under the heat of the sun. Instead, they had dried in ten minutes under the hair dryer that he found in the top drawer, and even more amazingly, she had sat still long enough for him to dry and brush her now silky curls. He let them hang loose, knowing that he was already pushing his luck with her sitting still for this long - trying to get her to let him put them up in any way, shape, or form was just pushing the marker.

Next, seeing as the sound of the hairdryer had woken Curtis up, Jack went about bathing him, whilst placing a mesmorised Kaia infront of the television. While Kaia sat immobilized with amazement on the floor, watching a children's television show with the typical bright colours and sing-along-songs, Jack bathed and dressed Curtis in a red long sleeved t-shirt and tiny jeans with his new sneakers on. Kaia was wearing the little boots that she had got with the outfit.

He had practically needed to pry Kaia away from the television and up to the dining room where some of the other survivors were having breakfast. Jack sat down near to Sawyer and Claire with Curtis, while Kaia ran around to the other side of the long table so that she could sit opposite them beside Aaron. Jack smiled at the pair, no wonder Kate and Claire were always planning their wedding. They were always spending their time together, even with the three year age gap. Growing up on the island had fed their friendship seeing as when one got into trouble, the other usually got them out of it.

Getting the children to eat toast and eggs was somewhat of a task. Kaia and Aaron finally gave in curiously, especially when the aroma of the cooked breakfast became too much for them to resist. However, Curtis, who was intent on eating boar, ended up settling on some fruit that Jack got for him. While Kaia and Aaron were soon deciding to steal bits from Sawyer's fried breakfast of sausages, bacon, baked beans, toast, tomatoes and chips, it seemed that it would be easier to gradually ease Curtis into the new food idea.

"What's the plan for our first fully free day then?" Sawyer asked after the children were sitting on a knee each taking their pick of his breakfast.

"Me and Charlie are just going to relax until we get to shore." Claire said, something that she was waiting for for nine years now.

"What time will we get back?" Jack asked, passing Curtis another peice of sliced watermelon.

"We're meant to be back tomorrow night." Claire informed him, and Jack nodded.

"Sawyer, guess where we're going." Kaia said playfully, stuffing another of her newly found chips into her mouth. Jack watched, noticing how well she had paid attention to his and Kate's constant attempts to teach her and Curtis table manners. The lack of a table usually complicated this, but she still never talked with her mouth full of food.

"I don't know." Sawyer said, giving up easily.

"It's somewhere special." She said, giving him a clue.

He still shook his head. "You're too clever for me." He surrendered falsely.

"Gonna see Mommy!" Curtis said excitedly. Kaia gave Curtis a grumpy look for giving the answer away, but she grinned when she saw that Sawyer's attention was now turned away from the last few fries.

Sawyer looked up at Jack. "They're letting the kids in?" He asked, unable to hide the look of amazement in his face.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, they said it was the only way to get her to stop crying." Claire put a hand on his shoulder, noticing the sad look that had overcome his face at the idea of Kate crying all night on her own.

"When are you going down?" She asked.

"When they're finished eating." Jack said with a nod. "I don't know how long we'll have, but I'd rather go early incase they're feeling generous."

He was hoping that they'd at least have a few hours, rather than the measly and too short half an hour he'd had the previous afternoon. He had wanted to hold Kate and comfort her, to assure her that he would get her out of there, but they hadn't given him the time to. And damned if he was going to waste time for medical science this time around.

"Tell her we said hi." Sawyer said simply. He wasn't letting it on much, but Jack could tell that he was more annoyed than upset at Kate not being around. Even if they didn't care for each other the way Jack and Kate did, Sawyer and Kate were still friends, and no amount of law enforcement would change that. If fact, the only reason that Sawyer wasn't plotting escape plans for her was because he knew that she'd never run because she was a mother first and foremost now.

"Daddy, can we go now?" Kaia asked brighty, having satisfied herself with Sawyer's breakfast and her own. Aaron was now moving onto the rest of Claire's which had been abandoned because she was talking to Jack.

"Wait until your brother's finished." Jack told her, and she bounced on the heels of her feet, urging her brother to eat faster. "Kaia." Jack warned lightly, then his tone softened. "Don't worry, we're definately going." He assured her, and she smiled. "I promise." That got her, and she stopped bouncing up and down, and joined Aaron in fighting with Sawyer for the last scraps of bacon, which he was eating as well as Claire's.

"Sorry, Sawyer." Claire said with a grimace. "I thought that he'd eat his own."

"So did I." Sawyer said, staring at the now empty plate. "No worries. I'll have another courtesy of Oceanic."

"Is everything being charged on Oceanic?" Jack asked with a laugh.

"Sure is, Doc." Sawyer said cheerfully. "And we're making the most of it."

"Sounds like a good idea." Claire agreed. When they had ordered another round of breakfasts, Sawyer laughed at Claire.

"You're going to get of this boat looking the same as when you boarded the flight in the first place." Yet he teased no further when Claire threatened to hurl a spoonful of baked beans in his direction.

Sounded like a fair deal after everything that Oceanic had put them through. But then he remembered what he had gained from them. If the plane hadn't crashed, Sayid and Shannon would never have met. Claire would have given up her baby for adoption and not met Charlie. Charlie would still be on drugs most likely. Locke would still be in a wheelchair. Sun and Jin wouldn't have improved their marriage so much. Sawyer wouldn't have learned to get along with people as well as he did now. Hurley would still think he was cursed. Jack and Kate wouldn't have met, and had two, soon to be three, lovely children.

"I think that Oceanic's given me the compensation already." Jack said, ruffling Kaia's hair gently.

"That's just corny." Sawyer brushed off with a wave of his hand. "Remember what they've taken as well as given, Jack."

Of course, without the crash, Boone, Artz, Scott, and all the others along their drawn out adventures would still be alive. Yet they had their own share of revelations before they were forever lost to the world.

Jack still insisted that he didn't need any compensation because he had his family.

"Whatever Doc, just remember that when you want to buy a house when we get back home." Sawyer pointed out. "I don't know about you, but I haven't got a large interest bank account that's quadrupled it's value recently."

Jack laughed a little. "Just becuase I don't need it doesn't mean I won't be accepting it." He told them.

"That's more like it."

Curtis tugged in Jack's t-shirt. "Finished, Daddy. Go see Mommy now." He announced proudly. Kaia heard this and bounced back over to Jack, jumping excitedly.

Jack smiled at them, wondering how he would be coping through this without them. "Come on then, let's go."


	29. Promise Me Forever

**First off I want to say thanks to all my reviewers. This story has had over 40,000 hits and nearly 250 reviews, so thank you all so much for making this story my most successful ever. The way my plan is going, it's not even halfway through yet. There will be the return of an unexpected character soon enough to through a spanner in the works.**

**xxxx**

Jack approached Kate's room with a thumping in his chest. No matter how he tried to calm himself, his heart was working overtime with the knowledge that in a few minutes his Kate would be in his arms again, even if it was just for a while. Knowing that he had to leave her again though, however, was readying the break that would crack as soon as they closed the door that seperated them. Beside him, Kaia gripped his hand tightly, and he could see from her little face that she was excited. Curtis, as usual, was settled on his hip, with one hand on Jack's shoulder and the other clutching the blue rabbit he now loved so much.

Somehow, he was regretting his decision to bring the children. He had fought to get it allowed, but now he realised that later on he would have to tell them that it was time to leave, and they would ask when they could come back, and he would have to say that he didn't know. How long would it be? A week? A month? How long were they going to be seperated? He was becoming a wreck, and they had only been apart for a day. How was he going to cope another hour without her? He had managed in his life before Kate came along, sure enough, but now he didn't know how to live, to breathe, without her guiding him.

The Marshals stood from their chairs either side of the door as they approached. The tallest one, who had thrown a digusted look at Kaia that morning as she had bounced up and down excitedly at the idea of seeing Kate, gave another disappointed look to the broken family, and Jack glared back, forcing himself to keep hold of his children and not to knock the man out. _Her past doesn't mean that we can't be a family..._ he thought bitterly, and damned anyone who was going to come between that.

"You were serious then." The Marshal grunted to Jack.

Jack frowned at him. "Of course I was."

"Best go in then. Stop her whining."

Jack would rather listen to her whining for the rest of eternity than to go another day without hearing her voice. They opened the door after unlocking it in two different places, and then undid the slide locke, which allowed the door to open. The shorter Marshal entered, and he heard Kate's determined voice come through the open door.

"What, am I free already?" She asked, trying to sound sarcastic, but Jack could hear the note of hope in her voice. Curtis heard his mothers voice and looked at Jack excitedly, and he nodded, assuring his son that this was definately real.

"You wish." The Marshal answered.

The Marshal turned on his heel and left, allowing Jack and the children to enter the room. Again, he stood and stared, as did Kaia. She was still lying on the bed, her face to the wall, looking more uncomfortable than she had been lying on the cave floor. Her face was hidden by the mass of curly hair that was cascading down her back. Jack noticed that she was wearing a new pair of jeans and t-shirt that he had taken down to her yesterday.

He crossed the room, and sat down on the edge of the bed behind her. The matress was so hard that she didn't even notice. Curtis moved himself so that he was sitting on Jack's lap properly, and Kaia stood calmly beside him, as always. Reaching out a free hand, having released his daughters, Jack placed a hand on Kate's shoulder.

Immediately, she turned around, and upon seeing Jack there with the children, her eyes lit up. She sprung up into a sitting position, ignoring the dizziness that it gave her, and wrapped her arms around Jack's neck, while Kaia climbed up on the bed and together with her brother, hugged her tightly. They held each other, the four of them, along with the secret child inside of Kate, as a family once again.

"Jack, I didn't think in a million years I was going to see you again." Kate said happily, her mood changing considerably since the previous day when he had arrived, and she had been more desperate than pleased.

"You don't get rid of us that easily." He reminded her.

Kate's attention turned to Curtis, who moved himself into Kate's lap on the bed, and Kaia, who stood infront of her on the mattress. Kaia leaned into Kate and hugged her, placing kisses on her cheeks, and Kate returned them.

"I'm doing what you said, Mommy." Kaia said.

"I knew you would, angel." Kate smiled at her.

"They've been really good. Daddy ate all his breakfast this morning." She said proudly.

Jack rolled his eyes, with Kaia around Kate would always be there. She was exactly like her mother in every way. Even as protective of him as she was.

"Did you?" Kate asked Kaia softly, hoping that at least her children would have had the five star breakfasts other than the toast she had managed to keep down.

"No." Jack said, shaking his head. "She and Aaron ate Sawyer's breakfast instead."

This made Kate laugh, but Kaia held her head high. "It's good to share." She recited like she wasn't going to do anything _but _steal Sawyer's breakfast. Yet again, she had picked up things from Sawyer that both her parents wished she hadn't.

"I'm sure he didn't mind." Kate said simply, smoothing back Kaia's hair with the hand that wasn't wound around Curtis. "Kaia, you look beautiful." She smiled, admiring the outfit that Jack had told her about yesterday.

"Daddy found it." Kaia told her. "I wanted clothed like Aunt Shannon's, but Daddy said that those are for big girls."

Jack indicated to Kate over Kaia's shoulder that these clothes included boob tubes and tiny skirts, and Kate managed a laugh. "Well, listen to Daddy because he's right."

"Mommy, look at my bunny." Curtis said, holding it up in front of Kate's face.

Kate took the stuffed rabbit in her hands, feeling how soft it was, and it strangely reminded her of her own childhood, something that had crossed her mind many a time stuck in this dingy room.

"He's called Baggy Bunny." Curtis continued. "'Coz his pj's are all baggy."

"He's lovely, sweetheart." Kate said, returning Baggy Bunny to Curtis. "What did you buy Kai?" Kate asked.

"Daddy said I brought half the shop." Kaia mimicked. "But I only got seven teddies and a load of toys."

The use of the word 'only' in that sentence stood out a mile away. Jack watched Kate's face as she spoke to the children about their time on the boat so far, and what they were going to do with the time remaining, and he noticed how well she was putting up a front for the children. She didn't look scared, she didn't look ill, she didn't look haunted. He was glad that Kaia and Curtis could see her looking happy like she was now, to have her children in her arms and close to her heart. However, this wasn't the same for him. As much as she tried, her guarded look across her eyes was too weak to block Jack out. He could see right into her, and saw the fear, the pain, and the haunting visions she was plagued with.

Kaia and Curtis had both brought down a few toys to play with, and set about scurrying along the floor with new found amusement, while Jack and Kate settled beside each other on the bed. Kate rested her head on Jack's shoulder, and he put an arm lazily around her waist, resting his hand on her hip. She let out a heavy sigh. "How did you get them to let you in?" She asked.

"I suggested it yesterday when I left, and this morning they were practically begging me to come down." Jack told her.

"Why?"

"They could hear you crying, Kate." He said softly, both of them keeping their voices down so that the kids didn't hear and worry. Kate looked away, ashamed. "You don't have to cry, Kate. Everything's going to be Ok."

"Jack, think about it, how can I possibly be set free after what I've done?" She asked him, the pain in her voice refusing to let her meet his eyes. "I blew up my dad. I robbed a bank. I got Tom killed. I conned people into thinking I was someone else. I'm no doubt going to be blamed for the Marshal's death as well..."

Jack tucked his fingers under her chin and brought it round to face him. "Kate, what you did to your father was because of what he did to you. When you robbed the bank you were set up by the Marshal. You told me yourself, you told Tom to get out of the car, it was his own decision - the police killed him, not you. And you didn't kill the Marshal. As I recal, it was because of the crash."

"I gave Sawyer the gun." She reminded him.

"Sawyer lifted the gun from the Marshal in the first place."

"But Jack-"

"Don't 'But Jack' me on this one, Kate." He said with a smile. "I'm getting you out of here. Last night I spent my first night in eight years without you in my arms, and it nearly killed me to wake up and not see you there." He admitted, giving her the lingering kiss he had wanted all day.

"Mommy! Daddy! That's disgusting!" Kaia called over to them, her attention disappearing from the toys.

Jack and Kate parted with soft smiles. This is what Kate would miss. "You can talk, Kai." Jack teased. "We saw you cuddling Aaron yesterday."

Kaia faked a shocked look, while Kate raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "What's this?" Kate asked.

"I didn't cuddle Aaron!" Kaia said defensively. "Aaron cuddled me."

"Same thing." Curtis spoke up. Of course, the five year old wouldn't listen to romance from her parents, let alone from her two year old brother. "Kai's got a boyfriend. Kai's got a boyfriend." Curtis chanted to annoy her.

"No I haven't!" Kaia said defensively. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"But he hugs you!" Curtis said. "That means he loves you!"

Kate and Jack settled for watching their children banter with each other. Kaia frowned at Curtis. "No it doesn't!"

"Mommy and Daddy hug. They love each other." Curtis said. "So do Uncle Charlie and Aunty Claire. And Uncle Sayid and Aunty Shannon. And Uncle Bernard and Aunty Rose. And Uncle Sawyer and Aunty Ana."

"Sawyer and Ana Lucia?" Kate asked incredulously.

Curtis nodded. "They were cuddling and kissing by a tree." He said. "Making funny noises."

Jack and Kate looked at each other with slightly alarmed glances, realising exactly what their son had witnessed, yet the boy seemed indifferent to it. "Curtis, when did you see that, sweetie?" Kate asked gently, trying to act naturally.

He shrugged. "Other day."

"I'm going to kill him." Jack muttered, holding a false smile on his face while he did so.

"Don't." Kate chided softly. "At least that means he'll definately stop hounding me now."

Jack grinned and kissed Kate again. "Looks like our little girls fallen in love as well." He whispered to her.

"I heard that!" Kaia yelled. "I don't love Aaron!"

"Yeah you do." Curtis said.

"No I don't!"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Yeah."

"No.

"Yeah."

"No."

"Yeah."

"DAD!"

"Kids, stop shouting." Jack said softly. "Otherwise we'll be made to leave, Ok."

Instantly, the kids continued their arguement in whispers, and Jack returned his focus to Kate. Her face was saddened. "Kate?"

She looked up at him, bringing her gaze up from the ground. "I'm fine." She told him with a soft smile.

"Come on, Kate." He urged.

"It's just..." She looked over at the kids, smiling at their fun even though they were arguing. "...This could be the last time I see them for a while. The last time I see _you_ for a while."

"Don't think that way." Jack said, bringing his hand to her cheek and stroking it softly.

But for Kate, it was hard not to. She was locked up with that thought every second of the day. "Even at a good point its going to be a month, maybe more. There's the preparations, the proceedings, the trial, the sentencing..."

"Kate, don't." Jack urged, never once tearing his eyes from hers. He didn't want to think of this as one of thier last moments together.

"I can't help it." She whispered. "I hate this as much as you do, Jack. I want to be there with you. I should have taken my chances with Joanna's passport."

"We talked about that it was too risky." He reminded her. They hadn't wanted her to do it incase someone slipped up. Of course, there was going to be television coverage and interviews. It was too risky to get 40 people to remember a person's name they'd known for 9 years and suddenly change it to something else.

"Look. I could go down for over twenty years, Jack. More than that. By the time I've served, Kaia and Curtis would have moved out and this baby would most likely be in college. I'd have missed everything. Kaia will be twenty-five. By the time I was twenty five I'd been married and divorced, and I'd killed a man. I'm not going to be a part of their life anymore."

"No matter what happens you'll always be a part of their life." Jack promise.

The rest of their time is passed too quickly for Jack's eyes, yet when they were told to leave, Jack noticed that the sun was setting out of the small window in Kate's room. The Marshals waited at the open door while they said their goodbyes. Curtis didn't understand why he was being taken away from Kate again, and fought tooth and nail against Jack at first until Kate assured him that he would see her again, though it was killing her to say it. Kaia hugged her mother.

"Love you, Mommy." She whispered. "Love you forever and ever."

"I love you too, sweetie. Be good, Ok?"

"I will. I promise."

Kate looked at her breaking family with tear stained cheeks and then focused her attention. "Baby, do you remember the words to your songs?" She asked her.

"But you sing our songs, Mom."

"Kaia, do you remember them?" Kate asked, regardless of Kaia's heartbreaking statement. Kaia nodded firmly. The songs she heard everyday now imprited in her mind. "Whenever I'm not there, and your sad, just sing those songs, Ok?"

Again Kaia nodded, and then she went to stand with her brother beside Jack. Curtis looked at Kaia for a minute, then grabbed her hand. Kaia squeezed it back and Kate smiled softly.

Jack came over to where she stood at the centre of the room, and took her in his arms once again. "Promise me you'll look after yourself." He asked her. "And our little one."

"At least I'll have a part of you with me." She smiled sadly.

"Lets keep it that way, too." He agreed.

He kissed her, determined not to be torn away from her this time. Then they parted, and stared into each others eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"And when we get you home, I'm going to marry you." Jack said determinedly. This brought an instant smile to Kate's lips. "Thats the smile I love and know." He kissed her again, then looked in the direction of her bed. She followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow. "I hope you still hug your pillow in your sleep." He said, winking at her.

She frowned, trying to figure out what he meant. She never hugged her pillow in her sleep.

After watching Jack's retreating form fade out of the room once again, she went over to her bed. Thinking about what he had told her, she reached her hands beneath the pillow, and found an envelope.


	30. Eternally Lost, Without You

As the door closed behind them, Jack sighed heavily, and felt Kaia take his hand tightly. Curtis was beginning to fall asleep, and Jack realised that he hadn't had a nap that day, which was strange. At least he would sleep well through the night. Or so he thought.

Only minutes after getting back to their room, Curtis had started complaining. Only not that he wanted to stay up and play, or that he was hungry, or that he wanted something to drink, or just moaning for moanings sake. No, he wanted the one thing that Jack could not give him at that moment.

He wanted Kate.

Curtis howled in Jack's arms as they sat together on the bed. Kaia sitting at the end of the bed, watching the news, even though she couldn't hear a word of it over her brothers crying. Jack tried his best to comfort him, though nothing was working, because he wanted Kate too. Spending the day with her, all four of them together again, had only added to to the heartache that he had felt by walking out of the door the previous day. He considered himself lucky with how easily he had managed to get the children to leave the room with him, when they all knew that Kate wasn't coming with them. Yet Jack found a small solace in the fact that she had their baby inside her, with her where no one could take it away from her. Only this wasn't something that he could explain to a two-year-old. At one point, even Charlie had come from across the hall to see if everything was alright, and Jack had merely explained that Curtis missed Kate. What more was there to say?

* * *

Kate's hands trembled as she found the envelope. She lifted it up, knowing instantly that the untidy but readable scrawl on the front was Jack's, it was true what they said about the handwriting of doctors. She slipped it open, and inside was a peice of paper.

_Dearest Kate._

_I hate writing this. I hate so much that all I can do to tell you how I feel is to sneak you a peice of paper and hope by some miracle that you find it. I just want you to know, even though I've said it a thousand times, that I'm going to get you out of there. I'm going to save you. Why? Because I love you, and our children need you. Sure, Dad's great, but he's not Mom. I'm not you. There's only so much I can do for them, and no force in the world will make me deny my children their mother. We get whatever we want courtesy of Oceanic, yet it hurts me more than a thousand knives digging into my body that the one thing that they truly want I cannot give them. When they ask me where you are, when you are coming home, it hurts. I need you, which is why whatever happens, you're going to come back to us._

_I've got some people I can contact when we get back to the mainland. One of my friends from before the crash was a really high established lawyer, he never lost a case. I'll ring him and get him over here to represent you. Don't worry, he's trustworthy. Everyone is behind you Kate, and it's going to stay that way. We're all waiting for the day you can get back to how its supposed to be. Shannon's already planning a party, but its girls only apparently. Don't worry though, the rest of us have another party planned, that us males can come to. Or rather, Hurley and Charlie have it planned. Claire's been buying some films that we've missed out on, but she's refusing to watch them until she can watch them with you. I think it's just because Claire, Sun and Shannon are scared of watching them. _

_Everything's changed now. For me, it's just because you're gone. With you at my side, I don't care what happens, but now we can't be together, it's horrible. You're all I've known these past ten years, Kate, and all I ever want to know. I would have gone mad without you with me, and if I didn't have Kaia and Curtis right now, I think I would have gone mad the minute they tore you from my arms. I woke up this morning, with two sets of brown curls like yours beside me, but the third set was missing, and I hated knowing that they were resting on another pillow, thinner and less comfortable than ours. What I hated more though, was knowing that there was a part of my family missing, a part of me missing. I'll love you forever. Nothing can ever come between us. Not even all the law courts in the world. I'm not going to stop until you're back in my arms._

_Hang on, Kaia's fighting me for the pen._

_Hi MoMmy. Its KAIa. SeE, I Can write aLL my LetTers NoW. I LoVE You. CurTIs LovES yOU two. I LIke tHe TeLLY. CaN We HavE ONE at our NEw HoUse? _

_I think our daughter's becoming a television addict already. Anyway, I saved you something from the dining hall, figured that you and the baby might enjoy it..._

Kate looked away from the letter for a moment, and looked into the envelope again to see a few precious squares of milk chocolate hiding away. She couldn't help but laugh at the times she had complained about craving chocolate when she was pregnant before. She looked back at the letter.

_...There was a lot more of it, but it turns out that the kids like it as much as you do. They've been eating it all while I've been writing away. They're going to be bouncing off the walls later with all the sugar they've discovered. Note to self: Kaia's stomach hates peas. They tend to reappear ten minutes after they've gone down. Curtis wouldn't stop eating them though._

_The kids are pestering me. We're on our way down to see you soon. _

Behind that page, was a set of smaller peices of paper. She read them each in turn.

_If I never knew you, If I never felt this love,  
I would have no inkling of how precious life can be.  
And if I never held you, I would never have a clue  
How at last I'd find in you, the missing part of me.  
In this world so full of fear, full of rage and lies  
__I can see the truth so clear, in your eyes  
So dry your eyes.  
And I'm so grateful to you,  
I'd have lived my whole life through  
Lost forever, if I never knew you.  
__If I never knew you, I'd be safe but half as real  
Never knowing I could feel a love so strong and true  
I knew our love would be so beautiful  
Somhow we made the whole world bright  
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong  
__All they'd leave us where these whispers in the night  
But still my heart is singing, we were right.  
__There's no moment I regret, since the moment that we met.  
If our time has gone to fast  
I've lived at last.  
_

_I'd gladly wait in the rain,  
For you to tell me that you cared.  
I'd gladly face the storm  
To know that you'll be there.  
I'd gladly stand in thunder  
To be held in your arms.  
I'd gladly watch the lightening,  
For you to tell me that you loved me_

_Be my angel in the night  
When there's nothing left but fright  
Guide me safely through the dark  
Back to multi-coloured arcs  
Kiss me gently, hold me tight  
Never let me leave your sight  
No more leaving, no more pain  
No more nightmares, no more shame  
I'll be your saviour, if you be mine  
Beat your wings, forever shine_

_With you I'm not afraid  
With you I can do anything  
With you I feel beautiful  
With you I am invincible  
With you I can climb mountains  
With you I swim the seas  
With you I fly with angels  
With you I can make miracles  
With you I always believe  
With you I can't go wrong  
But without you...I'm nothing

* * *

_

Three hours later, Jack had left his crying son in the bed only long enough to help Kaia change into her pyjamas and then the three of them had lay together. Kaia had her head using Jack's stomach for a pillow, and Curtis's crying face was buried on Jack's upper chest, with Jack's arm securely holding him there. By this point, Jack felt like screaming himself. If only that would bring Kate back to them. But it wouldn't. He wondered if she had caught onto his riddle.

He thought back to the envelope he had left her, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a melodic voice drifting to his ears. For a brief moment, the sound was all too familiar, and he thought that perhaps Kate had snuck in, and was hiding somewhere. Yet the voice was too close for that, coming from his chest. He moved his head to look down, and saw that it was Kaia's lips moving, and her voice that was floating around them. He remembered Kate asking her if she knew the words to their songs, and how his daughter had nodded. Yet his wasn't one of their songs. It wasn't Hushabye Mountain or Bright Eyes, it wasn't Living on a Prayer or Bohemian Rhapsody. It was something different. A song he hadn't heard for years. It was the song that Kate used to sing to Kaia as a young baby, when she thought that no one was listening.

"_Maybe it's intuition  
But some things you just don't question  
Like in your eyes  
I see my future in an instant  
And there it goes  
I think I've found my best friend _

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy  
But I believe

I knew I loved you before I met you  
I think I dreamed you into life  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
I have been waiting all my life

There's just no rhyme or reason  
Only this sense of completion  
And in your eyes  
I see the missing pieces  
I'm searching for  
I think I've found my best friend

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy  
But I believe

I knew I loved you before I met you  
I think I dreamed you into life  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
I have been waiting all my life

A thousand angels dance around you  
I am complete now that I've found you

I knew I loved you before I met you  
I think I dreamed you into life  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
I have been waiting all my life"

"Kai?" He spoke quietly, because Kaia's singing had managed to get Curtis not only to stop crying, but also to fall asleep.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Do you remember that song?"

He couldn't understand how something that she hadn't heard since before she could walk and talk was imprinted in her memory so clearly. Of course, it was still in his, and he remembered how he had thought that the song was perfect for Kate to sing to their child. She had loved the baby before she had held her in her arms for the first time, and Kaia was the first of what she had been waiting for all her life. Being a mother had given her the completed feeling that she had found her life's worth. Kaia wasn't only her daughter, she was her friend.

"It think so." Kaia said. "Who sung it?" She asked.

Jack rubbed his hand along her back. "When you were a baby, first born, your mother used to sing it to you when you were alone together, when she thought no one was listening." Jack explained.

"I miss Mommy." She said.

"I know." Jack said, as Kaia cuddled up to him even more sleepily. "But I'm going to bring her home to you."


	31. Edge Of A Broken Heart

**Alright guys, this is just a gap filler, seeing as it's shorter than I wanted it to be. However I have a load more deadlines over the next two weeks.**

Unlike the children, Jack had a restless sleep that night. Every second he tossed his head from side to side, unable to stay in one position for too long, it was a miracle that he didn't wake the children at one point, yet they slept through the night oblivious to their father's nightmare. He was seeing things, confusing things that when he eventually awoke, left him confused and disorientated for a few moments.

_He was back in on the island, standing on the beach. Kaia came running up to him, and tugged on his hand. "Dad, we've got to find him. We've got to find Curtis. She's going to do something to him if we don't get back in time." _

_Then he had seen Curtis sitting in a bath, his skin bright red, yet he was smiling up at him. The bathroom wasn't one he recognized. The room was filled tightly with so much steam that eventually it crowded over his eyes and when he reached for Curtis, he was gone, and his hands could only find the steam. Yet he could hear Curtis calling him. "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?" Then he looked to his side, nothing, then behind him, and saw Curtis being carried away from him by a blonde woman._

_Then there was his mothers face. "You've got to move on, Jack." She told him somberly. "She isn't coming back."_

_Then, of course, was Kate's face. She was running towards him, and when he saw her, and heard her call out of him, he didn't hesitate in running towards her as she was to him. They got closer, and when they reached out to touch each other, he couldn't get to her. Their hands touched an invisible force that stood between them. It became a window, and suddenly he was looking at Kate with a phone held to her ear. "Help me." She begged. _

Then he woke up.

The first thing that he heard was the sound of children laughing softly, their tiny voice chirping away to each other without a care in the world. He listened for a moment, trying to get his bearings from the dream before he attempted to open his eyes.

"No, not like that." Came Kaia's voice, laughing softly. "Through that hole."

"That one?" Curtis asked, his voice strangely muffled.

"Yeah, that's it!" Kaia said triumphantly. "Got it?"

"My arms stuck!" He complained.

There was a silence for a minute, while Jack wondered what on earth was going on, and then Kaia spoke again. "That better?"

"Thank you, Kai." Curtis said.

Jack's curiosity got the better of him, and he opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything but the ceiling above him. His face felt damp with a cold sweat, and he wiped it away with his wrist, taking a deep breath. He looked over, and saw the two children standing in the doorway that lead to their bathroom. The pile of clothes that had been on the dresser next to it was lower than usual, and Jack noticed straight away that this was because yesterday's clothes and their nightclothes were strewn across the floor around them, and they were dressing themselves … by themselves. It explained why Curtis was getting his arm stuck, and he realized that Kaia must have helped him to get his arm through. Both were wearing a pair of jeans, and both wearing matching red sweatshirts. Kaia was just pulling hers on over her t-shirt, and after a small struggle, got hers over her head. She pulled the rest of her hair through over her shoulders and let it hang down her back.

Jack couldn't help but smile at the scene. It was always a good thing for a parent to see their children working together in normal tasks. Of course, he had seen them working together on the island. There were always times when they were running around in the sand, and during the time when Curtis had began taking his first steps, Kaia was always there with him at his side when he walked between Jack and Kate, and she would help him up when he fell down. Even if he stumbled she would reach out and steady him, or sometimes he would reach for her to stop himself from unbalancing. When Jack had started to teach Kaia how to look after simple scratches and cuts if he wasn't around at the time, something he taught both her and Aaron, Kaia listened intently. Once when he and Kate were coming back from a walk when the kids had been left with Sawyer, they came back to Sawyer spying on them, and upon closer look, they saw that Curtis had received a cut on his arm when they were playing up on the golf course with Sawyer, and Kaia was using some of Jack's supplies, cleaning the little cut and covering it for him.

Although it was cute watching the children, Kaia went and did something extremely unexpected after she had finished with her hair. She went around to all the clothes on the floor, and picked them up. Curtis picked up the small things, like socks, that had slipped through her tiny hands, and together they piled them all up, somewhat neatly, beside the clean clothes that were still in a pile.

"See." Kaia said to Curtis. "Daddy will be so pleased when he sees what we did."

"Then he won't be sad anymore?" Curtis asked.

"I don't think so. Usually when Mom's sad, she feels better when Dad does something that helps her." Kaia explained.

"How does this help him?" Curtis asked.

"Well, now when he wakes up, he won't have to do all of this." Kaia said happily.

"Oh." Curtis said. "Okay."

"Told you."

"Kai?" Curtis asked sweetly. "I'm hungry."

"When Daddy wakes up, we can go have some breakfast."

"Don't worry, guys, Daddy's awake." Jack announced.

The two kids came over to where Jack was now lying awake and jumped onto the bed laughing. "Dad!" Curtis called as they did so.

"Did you two clean up for me?" He asked.

"Yeah. Kai said you won't be sad because we helped you." Curtis said. Jack looked around, the clothes had been put away, and all of their toys had been put to one side. Kaia had even brushed her hair. Kate normally fought tooth and nail to get Kaia to allow a comb through her hair.

"Good idea." He said, and was silent for a minute. They came closer to him cautiously. Then, Jack jumped, roaring playfully and they screamed happily, leaping off the bed.

Jack chased them around the room for a while, before the three of them went up to breakfast. That's when they had been told the news. They weren't docking that evening anymore. They were docking at noon.

**What happens when they dock?**

**Will Kate actually be coming back?**

**What does the start of Jack's dream mean for the future of the Shephard family?**


	32. Beyond The Sea

The ship came into dock at around one o'clock in the end, still earlier than the survivors had been prepared for. They had also been told to be prepared for a few photographers and onlookers, as their news story had recieved a lot of coverage over the last few years as the hunt for them had progressed and eventually, given up. This had turned out to be a massive overstatement.

"Small turnout, my ass." Sawyer muttered, as they stood out on the deck and saw the mass of a crowd that had gathered in Sydney harbour to greet them.

Jack smirked at the comment. He held onto Kaia's hand, and had Curtis settled on his hip, ready to fight their way through the crowds to get into cars. Kaia was standing beside Aaron, chatting animatedly to him as they looked at the amount of people, having never seen such a crowd in their lives.

"Mom, who are all those people?" Aaron asked Claire.

"People who want to see us." Claire told him. "They've been looking for us."

He seemed content with this, and so Kaia and Aaron turned back to the crowd.

Sawyer looked at Jack. "Those people are in pretty close." He observed.

"Sure are." Jack agreed. He was still shaken up from his dream that morning, and was now facing the reality that Kate wasn't going to be around him anymore. He hadn't spoken much to anyone other than the children.

"Want me to take Curt so you can lift Kaia up?" Sawyer asked. Jack faced him strangely. Sawyer shuffled on his feet, ashamed to have suggested helping Jack out. "Come on, don't want mini-Freckles to get lost when we've been back for all of five seconds." He covered up hastily.

Jack smirked again, and handed Curtis to Sawyer, getting ready to lift the heavier Kaia onto his hip.

The photographers were going wild, when they took their first step off the ship. Jack, still their leader, went first. He took his first step onto mainland, lifting Kaia up onto his hip the moment the crowd seemed to swarm to get past the police pushing them back. Suddenly, everything was moving so quickly, a man was showing them to a car for them. Sawyer, who was holding Curtis, went over to the same car as Jack, and they were told that their belongings would be taken to the hotel in a different car. Their essentials were slung in bags over their shoulders, and the two men strapped the kids into the car, watching as they babbled excitedly about what was happening now. After all, they had only ever seen cars in book illustrations.

Just as Jack lifted his head from strapping the last seatbelt in, he instinctively looked to his left, and saw beyond the crowd, and as fast as everything had been moving for the past few minutes, or however long it had been, things seemed to slow down dramatically as Jack focused on another car in the distance.

* * *

Kate had left her room without a fuss, knowing that this would only lead to trouble for Jack when he tried to get her free. So she wasn't putting up a fight as they took her to a car over away from the crowds. She was thankful for that at least, so she wouldn't be plagued with media coverage just yet. As they got closer to the car, she felt eye boaring into the side of her head, and turned it quickly to see Jack, staring right at her. He was standing by another car, in the centre of attention, while cameras went wild and people screamed excitedly. Already celebrities in their own way.

Their eyes locked, and even though she couldn't clearly see the compassionate chocolate brown eyes that she knew and loved, she had them memorised in her head, and could picture them in an instant. She became aware that she had stopped walking, and so the Marshals around her gave her a shove towards the car. She stumbled for a moment with the impact, and she hated to think of the concern in Jack's eyes when he saw that. Her head lifted to see him again, and just nodded at him, all she could do. If she shouted, she wouldn't be heard, and neither would he; and there was no chance of the movie happy ending where the police were fought off and they ran to each other in slow motion, finally colliding in a moment of happiness waited for centuries. No, she could only nod her head to him, the only goodbye she could give him.

Then they forced her into the car, and he was blocked from her sight. As they drove, her in the middle seat, two Marshals in the front seat and one on either side of her, she leaned her head forward, bringing up her knees and hands to melt into a ball, and tried to hold back her tears once again. The engine started, and she began to be dragged further away from Jack into a world she barely knew, or cared for, anymore.

* * *

Sawyer's call broke Jack's focus on the car now speeding away from him, carrying Kate away to a dingy cell in a run down prison not to far away, he hoped that at least. He snapped his head back round, hiding the distraught look in his eyes, and then got into the car. He sat in the back with the children while Sawyer jumped into the front seat of the car beside the driver. As the car started, photographers clouded them against the windows, but thankfully, no one seemed able to get a clear shot of any of them. Jack wasn't ready for publicity just yet, and he didn't want his children to be in the limelight either.

They were taken to a hotel not far from the harbour, right in the city heart. Jack had stayed in hotels all over the world, but couldn't remember being in one that was so elaborate. Then again, he hadn't stayed in a hotel in ten years, this could be a shack in the middle of the desert and he'd find it to look like a palace. Kaia immediately started to wander off to look at the large fish tank in reception that caught her eye, but Jack grabbed her hand before she dipped into the small crowd of people and got lost. Together, Sawyer and Jack walked over to the reception desk. In the car, they had assured each other that they were simply working together for Kate and the children's sake, yet deep down, they both knew otherwise. They had become friends over the years, even if they were both to stubborn to admit to it.

"Oceanic flight?" The receptionist asked brightly. She was a tall, blonde haired woman with golden curls running over her shoulders of the blazer jacket she wore.

"That's right." Sawyer said flirtily. Jack rolled his eyes, not only did he flirt with every woman he met, he didn't stop there, he had to flirt with every woman in the world, even one who had only said two words to him, and was probably this friendly to all her customers.

"Ok, can I take your names please?" She asked, her eyes never leaving the Southern man's face while spoke. Ok, maybe Jack was wrong about her being this friendly to everyone.

"Ford, and this hear is the Sheppard gang." Sawyer pointed.

"Alright, Mr Sheppard, you're up on the 23rd floor, room 15. Mr Ford, same floor, room 19." She handed them their keys, and told them that their luggage was up in their rooms. They thanked her and walked away so that the next arrivals, Sun and Jin, could check in.

"Dad, can we look at the fish now?" Kaia asked, tugging on Jack's hand.

"Alright, quickly, because we need to get to our things." He told her, whilst leading her over to the large fish tank that served as a wall.

Kaia went up to it curiously, putting her hand on the glass, and Jack wondered how long it would take cleaners to wipe away her smeary fingerprints. She stared up at the fish, watching the large and small tropical ones, particularly following the lion fish around with her eyes. It came up close to her face, seemed to have a staring contest, and then puffed itself out, making it seem larger. She laughed as it shrank again, and then her eyes met something else. Blue eyes and an equally curious face. As soon as they both realised what was happening, both of the pairs of eyes whipped away from the fish tank to their parents.

"Dad! Aaron's in with the fish!"

"Mom! Kaia's in with the fish!"

Jack and Claire also met eyes through the fish tank, and Claire walked Aaron around to the other side of the fish tank, where he eyed Kaia up curiously.

"You're not all wet." He observed.

"Nor are you." She laughed, and they went back to watching the fish, on the same side of the glass for the moment.

Claire giggled at them, then turned to Jack. "How long before they ask for their own pets?" She thought.

"About 2-"

"Mom, can I have a fish?" Aaron turned round and asked on impact.

"I don't want a fish." Kaia said, and Jack very nearly jumped for joy. But she continued..

"I want a dog."

"Yeah me too." Curtis agreed.


	33. Question Time

Having finally managed to pry Kaia's mind away from dogs for ten seconds, Jack made his way up to the fifteenth floor. Kaia and Curtis watched with wide eyes as the elevator came with lights that flashed down on the numbers, both of them counting down together, and Curtis going just that little bit slower so that he could copy whatever number his sister announced yet. Inside, asked many questions. Why was the door closing with no one pushing it? Why were they in the little room? Where were they going? What was that buzzing sound?

After a long ten minutes of questions about where they were, what this did, and why, Jack finally managed to get the two children into their room. It was immediately better than the one on the boat, even though that had seemed like heaven before hand after spending so long on the island. But after a few days, the once comfortable mattress there had begun to show its lumpy side, and the once plumed pillows needed to bit punched several times to get comfortable with again. This room, at first glance, however, was a palace in comparison.

The first room that they walked into had their few bags over by the couch, which was a large three seater with an armchair to the side of it, in the same rich green colour as the walls. Hanging from the ceiling above that was a small chandelier that wasn't on at the moment because rays of sun were streaming in from an open patio door which led to reasonably large balcony area for them. Instead of the small window in their last room on the boat, this suite had windows facing outwards all over the wall opposite them, giving a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour in the near distance, and the sea stretching out behind it.

Kaia immediately went over and tested out the couch by jumping on it, and then quickly composed herself when she saw another - and considerably bigger - television opposite her, framed into the wall. The widescreen wonder kidnapped her attention and she sank down into the large cushions of the couch and just sat, transfixed by it. Jack pressed the on button when it was clear that she wasn't going to start looking for it, and now that the picture on screen was so much bigger than before, he hoped that this meant she wasn't going to sit three inches from the screen all the time. Curtis crawled up beside Kaia and watched what appeared to be the news, talking about a car accident on a highway up to the north of Australia which had included a lot of cars.

Jack decided to take a look around the rest of the suite while they were occupied safely, and first found himself wandering into the room to the side of the television. It turned out to be a double bedroom. The large master bed in the centre with a matching bedside table, each with a matching lamp and a reading light above the bed. Everything in the room was symmetrical, and so picturesque. Off of that room was another door, leading into an en suite bathroom, with a large bath, and a shower in the corner.

Going back into the main room, he discovered that this housed the lounge and kitchen areas together, with clean marble surfaces and a shining silver sink. On top of the counter was a peice of paper with addressed to Jack, so he read it.

_Dr. Jack Sheppard._

_To make your stay at our hotel more enjoyable and comfortable, please do not hesitate to inform a member of staff of anything that comes to attention that you may require through. In the downstairs facility of the hotel, there are indoor activities for the children free of charge should you and your family wish to use them..._

He stopped reading there, as Kaia called over to him.

"Dad, is this our new house?" She asked him. "Are we going to live here?"

Jack put the letter back on the worktop and looked up to see Kaia and Curtis leaning their arms on the top of the couch, watching him intently. It was the kind of moment that you'd want a picture of.

"Just for a while," He said to them. "Then when your Mom comes back we're going to get one all on our own." He said.

Kaia's face fell a bit.

"Without everyone else?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, but we'll still see them."

"But we won't be sleeping near Aaron anymore?"

"Can't we play on the beach anymore?" Curtis asked.

Jack sighed and went over to them. "Guys, don't worry. We'll see Aaron and the others all the time. And you wait until you see Sydney's beaches."

Kaia and Curtis looked at each other. "Who's Sydney?" Curtis asked. Kaia shrugged, and they looked back at Jack.

"Sydney is a city. The city that we're in now." He told them.

Kaia cocked her head to one side. "I thought we were in Australia..." She mused wit a cute confused expression on her face.

"We are." Jack told her with a smile.

"But then how can we be in Sydney as well?" Kaia asked, getting more and more confused by the second.

"Because, Sydney is in Australia." Jack said.

"Oooohhh!" Both children said in understanding of where they were now. "That's confusing." Kaia told her dad.

"You'll get the hang of it one day." Jack said, ruffling her curly hair.

"So, we're going to live in Sydney?" Kaia asked, actually knowing where Sydney was now, and that it was a place, not a person with a collection of beaches.

Jack nodded slowly. "Probably." He didn't know for sure. Maybe Kate would want to move back to the states, if she could stand to get on a plane again. He wasn't sure if he could.

"Is Aaron?" Kaia asked. Jack had been waiting for that question.

Curtis starting singing. "Kaia and Aaron sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

Kissing. Probably the only word that Curtis knew how to spell every time he tried. That was Sawyer's fault. He had started that song off.

"Stop it!" Kaia moaned.

"First comes love...then comes marriage...then comes Kaia with a baby carriage..." Curtis continued. Then for the first time in his life after singing that song, he also got a confused expression on his face. "What's a baby carriage?"

Jack was going to answer him, but there was a knock on the door that interrupted him. Kaia immediately jumped up and ran to the door but Jack called out to her. "Kaia! What did we say?"

"When the door knocks that someone wants to come in?" She asked.

"No. You're not allowed to open the door unless you can tell me who it is." He had needed to make this rule after she had, on countless times on the cruise ship, opened the door to a complete stranger and started to have a conversation with the cruise attendant, or worse, the marshals.

"But.."

"No buts, wait for me."

Jack crossed the room, and then opened the door, with Kaia at his side, curiously. It turned out that Kaia wouldn't have known who it was, and that it was a hotel attendant.

"Good afternoon, Sir." He said. "I'm told to inform you that this even in the hall there will be a reception dinner and musical entertainment for all the survivors and their families."

The attendent couldn't have been more than twenty, probably a college student. His monotonal voice sounded like he was trying to remember a speech that he had to get word for word otherwise he lost his job. Jack was taken aback.

"Our families are coming?"

"Many of them are flying in today, sir."

"Oh...alright then." Jack nodded.

"It starts at 7.30." The attendant said, and then left them.

Jack closed the door and, once again, was met with questions.

"Dad, are we going to a party?" Kaia asked.

"We've been invited to a big one, yeah." Jack said, leading the little girl over to the couch and sitting down between her and Curtis.

"Can we come?" Kaia asked him.

"You bet. You two are guests of honour!" Jack told them to make them excited.

"Wow..." Curtis said, then got confused again. "...What's that?"

"A special person." Kaia told him.

"But, there's someone there that you're going to meet." Jack told them. "If you she comes, you'll get to meet your Grandma."

"Who's that?" Kaia asked.

"You're Grandma is my Mom." He explained.

"You have a Mom?" Curtis asked.

"Do you have a Dad too?" Kaia asked again.

"I used to, but he's gone away now."

"Where did he go?" Curtis asked.

"He wasn't very well, and he died." Jack told them.

Kaia frowned. "But when we get sick, you make us better?" Kaia reminded him.

This saddened Jack, reminding him how that he wasn't there when his father died. He knew that Christian had a drinking problem, but he had never known that he was so close to a heart attack. "I know, but I wasn't there when my Dad got sick." He said softly.

"But then he's in the sky with Vincent right?"

Oh, the day that the children learned about Doggy Heaven. It was a shock to everyone, especially Walt when the healthy labrodour simply wouldn't wake up one morning. Walt had been inconsoluble for days. Kaia and Aaron had been confused as to why the dog who chased them around and played with them wasn't moving, and Curtis had only just been born, but knowing there was sadness in the air. Everyone had become attatched to the dog over the years.

"Yes," Jack said, "He watches us and makes us safe."

"Does he like Curtis and me?" Kaia asked.

"Yeah, he loves you both very much."

He was sure that his father would have loved his grandchildren. They were smart, and beautiful, curious and yet no different from a child growing up in a real civilisation.

"Does Mommy have a Mom and Dad?" Curtis asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, but her Mom got sick like my Dad."

"So she's in the sky too?"

"That's right. She watches over your Mom, and makes sure that she's Ok." Diane had passed away shortly before the plane crash.

"Is she watching her now?" Curtis asked.

"Of course she is. They're watching all the time."

"How do you know that?" Curtis asked.

"Because I'm your Dad, and I know everything." He said seriously. "Now, what do you want to wear tonight to the party?"

Kaia smirked. "I thought you knew everything?"

There is nothing more deflating to a man's ego than being caught out by a five year old. "Let's go find Aaron, yeah?" He suggested, changing the subject before she tried to find another weak spot in his armour.


	34. A Different Kind Of Jungle

They found Aaron with Claire and Charlie at the play area described in the letter from the hotel manager in their room. After taking off their shoes, Kaia quickly ran back into the soft play area with Aaron, and Curtis following them as best he could. Jack sat down beside Claire while Charlie went to get them some coffees.

The real coffee was still a taste he was getting used to after ten years of false watered down Dharma coffee, but it was something he was definately not worried about getting used to again. Charlie didn't have a chance to sit back down once he had handed the coffee's out as his attention was grabbed by a large, hollow plastic ball hitting him in the side of the head.

He went over to the side of the play area where Kaia and Curtis were. "Aaron! Kaia! Stop throwing the balls." The two children giggled. "You want to get thrown out of there?" They giggled again and ran back off further into the maze. Charlie sat down on the chairs where Jack and Claire were. "Jeez, that's something I'll miss about the island - no children sugar highs." He said.

Jack laughed at this, remembering a day from his internship years ago. "Have you ever seen a real sugar high?" He asked.

"Probably," Charlie answered as he took his sip from his coffee. "About an hour ago when Aaron discovered sugar cubes in our kitchen."

"Trust me. It could be a lot worse than it is now." Jack said.

"How?" Charlie asked, slightly worried that Aaron could get more hyper than he was naturally.

"He's just had processed sugar. It's the colourings that will make these go nuts, they've never really experienced them before."

Charlie gulped. "How do we stop that?"

"In modern civilisation?" Charlie nodded. "We don't."

"Bugger."

Claire laughed at this, and turned to Jack. "Do you know where you're moving on to now, Jack?"

"What?"

"You know, are you staying in Australia, or will you be going back to LA?"

Jack exhaled with a sigh. "Well, I think Kaia might kill me if I move anywhere where she can't see Aaron. And with Kate's case and all, I think we're going to be best staying here in Sydney, at least for a while."

"Like us then." Charlie nodded.

"You're staying for good?"

"I've always lived here." Claire told him. "The rest of Charlie's family is here as well, his brother."

"He's the reason I was on the plane." Charlie pointed out.

"And be thankful for it." Claire said simply. All the survivors had learned to be thankful for the plane crash.

"I'll have you know I was quite angry at the time." Charlie said defensively as he could manage against Claire, which wasn't much, sounding more defeated than defensive.

"And after ten years that should have passed." Claire reminded.

"Jeez" Charlie mused, "Megan's going to be eleven of twelve now."

"Megan?" Jack asked with a frown. In the ten years now that he had known Charlie he had never heard mention of a Megan before.

"My neice." Charlie said. "She was one, no, two, when I left. Liam was playing with her in the garden."

"I just can't wait to see the look on my Mom's face." Jack said with a mischevious grin, and began rehursing his conversation with her. "'Hey Mom, these are your grandchildren, and their mother's in jail', she's going to freak out!"

"Relax," Claire said, but laughing anyway, "She's going to love them all.

Jack turned sad for a moment. "Providing she gets to meet Kate..."

Charlie jumped in, frowning at Jack. "Oi! Where's this downer come from? I thought you were confident about her case?"

"You've just got to find her a good lawyer, thats all." Claire said.

Jack nodded, and then froze in his chair. "Claire." He said seriously, looking at her as thought he had just had a premonition of world peace. "You're a genius."

Charlie and Claire looked at each other.

"She is?"

"I am?"

"Ben." Jack said.

Charlie frowned. "No, Jack. I'm Charlie. Char-lie."

"No, not you. Ben Leonard."

"Who's he?"

"He was my friend in high school. When I left L.A for Sydney before the crash he was one of the best lawyers in California." Jack remembered. He had never lost a case as far back as Jack could remember. It was perfect.

"That's all good thinking." Charlie said. "Only in the meantime, we've got a party go get ready for, and some hyper children to coax down from the jungle gym."

"Good idea. You do that," Claire said, standing up herself.

Charlie looked at her in disbelief. "What? Why me?"

"Because I have to get ready for the party." Claire said, as if the answer were obvious.

"And you can't get Aaron down because..." Charlie coaxed.

"Because he's not going to listen to me." She replied simply.

"Of course he's not, you're going to bugger off upstairs." Charlie pointed out.

Claire kissed him on the cheek. "Exactly."

Charlie surrendered. "If I didn't love you so much..."

"I know... see you later, Jack!" Claire said as she disappared.

Jack snapped out of his brainwave. "Bye Claire."

This left Charlie and Jack alone in the play area.

"So..." Charlie said slowly, catching a glimpse of the three children at the highest, furthest corner away from them. "...After the kids."

Jack laughed. "Oh no, Charlie." He disagreed, and stepped down. "After you."


	35. Meet The Parents

**I know that at the moment, Curtis doesnt really play a big part in this story, but as its starting to develop now (yes, we're getting back onto a big plotline! A mahoosive one!), he's going to be essential, remember Jack's dream? **

Jack had spent so long bathing and dressing the children that they were a little late for the party that night. He was rather reluctant to go, especially seeing as it was having media attention. He had seen Locke earlier, who had told them that some survivors wanted to give speeches, and they they were going to be televised live to the world. He knew, that being the leader, he would be expected to make a speech, and he really, really didn't want to. He was terrible infront of crowds, and even worse at speeches. He didn't even know what he would say, which would mean a lot of improvising.

Kaia at his side, and Curtis on his hip as always, a pose they had adopted to be normal recently, they entered the room with wide eyes. Jack had never seen something so extravangent yet so casual. People were dressed in simple clothing, jeans and shirts replacing the tuxedos, and women wearing the occassional dress, most wearing jeans and nice t-shirts. The children's eyes immediately fell on the disco ball hanging from the ceiling.

"Woah." Was all Kaia had to say.

"I like that ball. It's shiny." Curtis said, as the lights reflected unnatural shining freckles over his natural ones.

"Can I have one?" Kaia asked Jack sweetly.

Jack ran his hand over her hair. "We'll see, honey." He told her.

"Who are all the people, Daddy?" Curtis asked.

Jack realised that there was more people here than there had been at the harbour that morning.

"This is everyone's families." He told them.

"Their mommys and daddys?" He asked.

Jack shook his head. "Not all of them. Some of them are brothers and sisters, some are their children, some are husbands and wives. Lots of different people."

He looked around, seeing the people he had grown to consider his own family being welcomed back into their own.

Charlie stood nearest to them, with his brother Liam, and his wife and daughter that Charlie had described that morning. Megan was now thirteen, and was giving her uncle the first proper hug she could remember with him. Claire was standing just behing him, with her parents. Aaron was at her side, meeting his grandparents with his cheerful smile. Jack remembered how worried Claire had been that Thomas might show up because of Aaron, but clearly he hadn't, as Claire had that cheerful smile on her face. Sayid was hugging his younger sister, Sayain, who he then introduced to Shannon, who was standing beside her step-mother, who was teary-eyed from the news of Boone. Ana Lucia was standing over on the far side of the room with her mother, both of them too pleased to see each other once again to worry about the past. Hurley was introducing Libby to his mother and brother, who was hugging her. Michael and Walt were with Michael's mother, who Jack could hear exclaiming how Walt had grown so much. Sun and Jin were over with their parents, surprised to see that their fathers were getting along. Locke was with a woman in the corner who they presumed to be Helen.

Everyone was with their blood families again. Jack felt happy for them, but a little sad that he couldn't share their hope.

Until he heard her voice.

"Jack!"

He turned his head to see his mother running towards him. His mother. He hadn't seen her in so many years that he almost didn't recognise the woman approaching him. There was more grey in her hair now, and her eyes were wearier. "Mom." He spoke softly, setting Curtis down beside Kaia as he opened his arms to her.

"Dear Lord, Jack," She hugged him, oblivious to Curtis and Kaia. "I can't believe you're alive." She said gratefully, on the verge of crying. "I was so scared when your plane didn't land. Then they said on the news that it had crashed. Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry I sent you out there."

He smiled at her babbling, he had missed it, even when it had once annoyed him. "It's alright, Mom, I'm Ok." He told her.

She pulled back, eyeing him curiously. "Are you sure?" She asked.

No he wasn't Ok. His heart was breaking without Kate at his side. "I'm alive, that's all that matters."

Margo looked around. "Where's your father?" She asked him. There was a long silence, and Jack tried to find the words. "Where is he?" She asked, a little worried.

"Mom, I'm sorry." He began, and she raised her hands to her mouth. "I found him in Sydney...he'd had a heart attack...he didn't make it." Jack revealed, and Margo shook her head in disbelief.

"You mean...he's dead?" She said slowly.

"I'm sorry." He replied, and hugged her again.

"So am I." She whispered. "Sorry that I couldn't go out there myself." She said to him. "That wasn't something a son should do." She apologized.

Jack was about to assure his mother that he actually enjoyed living on the island, when Kaia spoke up, having listened to their conversation. "Don't worry, he's up in the sky watching us."

Margo looked curiously at her, and with slight difficulty, bent down to Kaia's level. "Hello, little one, what's your name?"

"I'm Kaia." She replied proudly. "Are you our Grandma?" She asked in the cute tone that only a child could use.

"Your Grandma?" Margo questioned, looking up at Jack curiously.

Jack laughed, and nodded, his hand returning to the curls on Kaia's head. "Yes, sweetie, this is your Grandma."

Margo straightened back up to Jack's level. "Jack? I take it you're not babysitting?" She said with an unreadable expression.

He took a breath, ready for the introduction that should have happened years ago. "Mom, this is my daughter, Kaia, and my son, Curtis."

Margo looked at the two children. "Well, this certainly is a shock." She said, and then broke into a smile. "But it is a nice shock." She nodded, and bent forward to Kaia's level again. "Yes, honey, I'm your Grandma.

"Ok." Kaia said vaugely. "Hi Grandma. I'm Kaia." She repeated.

"Hello, Kaia, its nice to meet you finally." Margo said, "How old are you?"

"I'm five." She said proudly. "I'm bigger than Curtis, he's only two."

"I'm three soon!" He called out.

"But I'll be six first!" She reminded him. "Grandma, will you get ice cream for us?" She asked.

Jack had a flashback to his conversation with Charlie about sugar highs. "Kaia..." He began.

Kaia looked up at him sweetly with the puppy-dog eyes that Kate had taught her. Oh, how he had come to hate them. "Please?"

"You haven't had your dinner yet." He told her.

"Jack," Margo interrupted with a laugh. "This is a celebration!" She took Kaia's hand. "Of course I'll get you some ice cream."

"Cause when I told my friend Aaron that I've got a Grandma, he said that his Daddy said that Grandma's give you ice cream." Kaia babbled. Jack was starting to see the family traits of Shephard in Kaia a lot more now.

He laughed to himself. "Only Aaron..." He said, his hand on Kaia's head again.

"Come on, let's go eat." Margo said, taking Kate by the hand and lifting Curtis up onto her hip.

Jack followed them over to the table where they sat with a few others, only a mans voice from behind him called him back.

"Excuse me, Dr Jack Shephard?"

He called to his mother to take the children to sit down, and then turned to the stranger. He was tall, perhaps a little taller than Jack, but only just, with an army uniform on.

"Yes, thats me." He answered. "Can I help you?"

"I'm hoping so." The man answered. "I'm looking for someone."

"Who?" Jack asked,

"Her name is Kate Austen." Jack's eyes darkened at the name he knew and loved so well. "She was on the flight with you all. I've waited for her to show up, and when I asked someone, she said I should talk to you."

"You know Kate?" Jack asked slowly, and the man shook himself.

"Forgive me for being so rude. I'm Sergent Sam Austen, her-"

"You're her father." Jack interrupted, recognising the name instantly from what Kate had told him.

Sam smiled and held out his hand, which Jack shook. "Step-father, actually."

"Not in her eyes, I assure you, sir." Jack told him.

Sam smiled at this face. "Thank you." He looked around. "Is she here? Is she alive?"

Jack nodded. "Yes, she's alive." He looked down, then up again. "They took her back into custody when we got back to Sydney this morning."

Sam sighed. "I thought as much."

Jack tried to change the conversation direction, having spoken about this a thousand times, and wanted to talk about her life more than her absense. It felt too much like a funeral otherwise.

"She talked a lot about you, you know." Jack revealed with a gentle smile.

Sam smiled back. "She did?"

Jack nodded. "She said that if there was one person she could bring onto the island with her, it would have been you."

Sam looked away with a smile that Jack knew meant he was thinking about familiar things, about home, about his little daughter who was all grown up. "You're very close to her, aren't you?" Sam realised from the passion he spoke with.

Jack nodded. "I love your daughter very much." He said, realising that he was actually going through the greuling process of meeting Kate's father for the first time...and it was going well.

Sam nodded as well. "I thought as much. You have that look in your eyes when you speak of her."

Jack looked away, embarrassed to admit that a flush was creeping up his cheeks, and luckily in the dimmed light, he knew that Sam wouldn't have seen it. "So I've been told."

"I'm glad that she has finally found someone to stop her running." Sam declared, accepting Jack. "She must love you too to be able to stop running."

Jack nodded. "We're doing everything we can to get her off the charges." He promised.

Sam agreed, and then frowned. "We?"

"All of us survivors. She's been nothing but a hero." Jack looked around, finally spotting out the blonde haired boy he was looking for, and pointed him out to Sam. "You see that little blonde boy?"

"Yes."

"His name's Aaron. Claire was pregnant with him by eight months when the plane crashed. About a month later, someone was fatally injured, while I was trying to save his life, Claire went into labour. I couldn't leave Boone, but Kate delivered that baby. Well," Jack mused, "He's not a baby anymore."

Sam looked at Aaron, and then at Jack. "My Katie delivering a baby?"

Jack laughed a little. "She didn't want to, she didn't think she could do it. I had hoped I would be there for the birth, but then I couldn't be. She did it all herself."

"Well I'll be damned." Sam grinned.

"As soon as I can, I'm getting her a lawyer, and we're going to go through the trail precedings, about...about what happened to her." Jack explained.

"I see." Sam said sadly. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be there for that. I want to help her."

"If you could be there, that would be fantastic." He said.

"It's been a pleasure to finally meet you, Dr-"

"Please, Jack." He corrected.

"Jack." Sam finished. "Call me Sam."

"It was a pleasure to meet you too." Jack ageed, before a dawning look appeared on his face. "Wait! There's some others I need you to meet." He turned over his shoulder, and called over to where his mother sat. "Kai? Curt?"

The two looked up over to Jack. "Yeah?" Kaia answered.

"Come here a second."

As the children came and stood before him, Jack saw the look of recognition pass over Sam's face when he looked at Kaia.

"My God." He whispered to himself.

"I know that this is probably a shock," Jack began, "But me and Kate have been together for more than a while now. These are our children."

Sam let out a smile.

Jack crouched down to their level. "You know that you just met my Mom?" He checked. Kaia nodded. "Well, this is Mommy's dad, like I told you." He told them.

Kaia smiled and looked at Sam, then back to Jack. "This is Grandpa?" She asked excitedly.

"This is Grandpa." He confirmed.

Like Margo had done, Sam crouched to the childrens level, now all four of them close to the ground.

"Hello, angels." Sam said, then looked at Kaia. "How old are you?"

"I'm 5." She answered.

"I thought you were."

Kaia giggled. "How did you know?"

"Because you look exactly like your mother when she was 5." Sam told her with a smile, he turned to Curtis. "What about you, son?" He asked.

"I'm two." He said shyly.

"Do you miss Mommy too?" Kaia asked him.

Sam nodded. "I miss her very much." He said. "I have missed her for a very long time now."

"I miss her too." Kaia said, "So does Curtis. I think Daddy misses her most though." She said, looking at Jack, who kissed the side of her head lovingly.

"I'm sure he does." Sam agreed.

"My name's Kaia Sahara." She told him.

"My name's Curtis."

Sam complimented their beautiful names, and then smiled at Jack. "Thank you, for making my daughter happy." He told him. "I hope you don't mine if I join you in the rest of the celebrations..."

Jack shook his head. "Of course not, after all, you're family." He indicated to the children. "Well, their family."

"Thank you."

"Jack!" Charlie called. "Come on get over here!"

As they ate, Kaia sat on one side of the table beside Margo, and as they were eating she was taking up her usual curious habits of asking what everything on her plate was. Curtis was sitting on Sam's lap beside Jack.

"What's this?" Kaia asked.

Margo lifted some with her fork and showed it to her. "This, is duck."

"Duck?" She questioned.

"Yes, honey, it's a bird."

Kaia looked horrified. "You're eating a bird!" She looked over at Jack, as if getting him to stop her. "Daddy!" She protested in shock.

Jack smiled at her. "It's alright, baby, this bird can be eaten." He assured her. "Anyway, you like duck, John got some on the island before."

"Oh," She said. "Ok." Then she turned back, questioning Margo again.

Sam grinned at her. "She's a beautiful girl." He admired.

Jack agreed. "Yeah...that's Kate, not me."

"I can see you in your son, though."

Jack smirked. "You'd be surprised." He told Sam. Then he looked at his empty plate. "Excuse me one moment. Curt, wants some more meat?" He asked.

Curtis nodded. "Please, Daddy."

Jack went over the the buffet. He got some meat on his plate and was just about to head back to the table when a voice stopped him.

"Hello, Jack."

He turned, and found himself face to face with a familiar woman, blonde-haired and blue eyed. His eye grew wide at the sight of her, and he gulped before saying her name.

"Sarah?"

A/N: oooooo Sarah's back.  
What does she want?  
Find out in the next chapter!


	36. It's Her

"Sarah, what are you doing here?" Jack asked, keeping the plate of food in his hands.

She smiled. "Came to see you of course, what else would I be doing here?"

Jack hated to think what else she would be here for, he didn't like that she was here in the first place. "Why?" He asked increduloudly.

"What sort of question is that?" She asked him, wondering why he wasn't being the slightest bit friendly to her. They had, after all, been married for a time.

"One that could do with an answer." Jack stated simply. "Why are you really here."

"You've been stranded on an island for years, Jack" She said, as if that provided an answer for him.

He shook his head, looking down at the food. "You didn't need to come."

"I wanted to." She told him. "When I saw the rescue operation on the news and that you were still alive, I had to come out here, and when I spoke to your mother, she let it slip what hotel you were staying in, so I came as well."

Jack looked over at Margo, who was sitting alone now that Kaia was dancing with Sawyer, and then back to Sarah. "Does she know you've come?"

Sarah shook her head. "No."

"Still sneaking around then, I see." He digged. He was in no mood for Sarah, and surprisingly, he hadn't been for a long time. They might have been married, but that didn't mean anything anymore. She had been behind his back before, and with another man.

"Jack, this is hardly the time-"

"You haven't spoken to me for thirteen years, Sarah. I've only been gone for ten." Jack told her venemously, turning to put more food on the plate.

"Things were complicated." Sarah reminded him. "You had you're work, I had-"

"Someone else on the side." Jack finished for her.

"Jack! Please!" She said rather loudly.

"Please, what?" He asked her, without looking at her.

"Just hear me out, for Christ's sake!" She begged him.

"For what?" He asked her.

"Let me explain."

Jack stood there for a moment, then answered her. "Can we do this quickly, I've got people to get back to."

"I'm sorry, Jack." She told him quietly. "I'm sorry that I hurt you. It was a rough time for both of us. You had problems with your father-"

"Don't talk to me about my father!" He said in a low dangerous voice that would have stuck fear into the heart of even a maternal polar bear protecting her cubs. He looked at her as he said this, but then went back to the food.

"-And you were working all the time." She continued, as if she had never even heard him. "You were never home, Jack. I was your wife, and sometimes I went for days without seeing you."

"Like you said, things were complicated." He pointed out, still piling food on the plate for the children. He was getting a variety of everything so that they could try new things.

"Why are you doing this, Jack?" She asked him unfairly.

"Doing what?" He asked her.

"This! Why are you so hostile?"

"I'm not hostile." He lied. He was very hostile, mainly because he'd like nothing better than to never see her again at that moment. He was missing Kate too much to stand and talk to his ex-wife.

"I apologize to you, and you're tearing me to pieces." She accused him.

"Sarah, this is really not a good time." He said, hoping this would explain things to her enough for him to leave him alone. Of course, he should have known better with Sarah.

"It never is with you." She remembered.

"Sarah-"

"Please, Jack, let's give it another try."

Jack was so stunned that he acutally forgot where he was, let alone what he was going to say previously. Give it another try? Another try? Surely he hadn't heard her right.

"Excuse me?"

"We had something special, Jack, if only for a while. Who's to say we can't have it again?"

He was to say, that's who, him and Kate, and their wonderful children.

"You can't be serious." He said with a nervous laugh.

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

No, she never was. Nothing was ever a joke with her. "Sarah, I can't." He said strongly. "I won't."

"What?" She asked, taken aback.

"I won't be with you again." He said simply with a shrug, putting the finishing touches to his plate of food.

"Why not?" She asked him, clearly horrified. "Things could be perfect. If you cut down your hours at work, and we can get a new place together...we could start that family that we wanted..."

Just as Jack was about to reveal his new meaning of family, Kaia came to his rescue.

"Dad!"

He heard her voice, and looked around for the location of it. He finally saw her standing on the dancefloor, where she was now running over to him from. Sarah followed Jack's gaze, and saw Kaia. She watched in a mixture of confusion, horror, and hatred as Kaia came over to Jack excitedly, with that big grin on her face, and stood at his side laughing to herself, hugging his legs. Sarah and Kaia locked eyes for a moment, both wearing a strange expression; Kaia's almost nervous, afraid of her. This look disappeared when Jack noticed and ran his hand over her hair softly.

"What's the matter, baby?" He asked her gently.

She shook herself back into her party-mode. "I want to dance." She stated, looking up at Jack expectantly.

"Yeah, I saw you dancing with Sawyer, you having fun?" He asked her, finding that he didn't need to force a smile for her sake because she always brought a smile to his lips.

"Yeah, but I don't want to dance with Sawyer anymore." She said with a shrug. "Sawyer wants to dance with Ana Lucia."

That didn't surprise Jack at all. "No? Then who do you awnt to dance with. What about Aaron?" He asked.

"NO!" Kaia said, shocked at this suggestion. "I can't dance with Aaron!"

"Why not?" Jack asked laughing.

"Cause Aarons a boy! He doesn't know how to dance properly!" She explained, as if it were simple. "Cause I wanna dance with you."

"In a minute, honey." He promised her.

"DDDaaaaaaddddddddddyyyy..." She begged, using the puppy-dog eyes that he wished Kate had never taught her. Then her eyes fell on Sarah again. "Who's that lady?"

"Her name's Sarah." Jack explained.

"Hi." Sarah said simply, forcing a smile.

Kaia looked at Sarah, and then up at Jack. "I don't like her." She stated.

"Kaia!" Jack jumped in quickly. "Be polite!" He reminded.

Kaia stayed at Jack's side, standing behind his legs slightly, his hand was still on her head, and from a distance, it was clear to see the protection he was emitting against Sarah, although he didn't know why he felt he needed to keep Kaia away from Sarah.

"You have a child?" She asked strangely.

"Children." He corrected. "I have children."

"Your plane crashes, and you have children with another woman?" She asked, running the scenario through in her mind and deciding that it was ridiculous.

"A woman who I love very much." Jack added in.

Sarah went quiet, and then her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "You loved me once." She reminded him.

"You broke my heart, Sarah. That's not love." He told her.

Sarah looked around. "Where is she then?" She asked expectantly. "Where's their mother? Where's the love of your life?"

In any other scenario, this would be when Kate walked out and presented herself, and more than likely, shown Sarah who was boss. But she didn't. She couldn't.

"She's not here, and that's no business of yours." Jack said before she could ask any questions.

Then Curtis called over, taking his turn to save the day for Jack. "Daddy! Where's my meat? I've run out!"

"Just coming." He told him.

Sarah just nodded. "Keep in touch, Jack. Goodbye." She told him, and then turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd. Jack watched her go, and then tried to steer Kaia back in the direction of the table. Instead, she didn't move, watching after Sarah as Jack had done.

"Come on, Kaia." He said quietly.

"Daddy, that's her." Kaia said desperately, tugging on his trouser leg, begging his attention.

"Who?"

"That lady. It's her." Kaia repeated.

"What about her?" Jack asked, stopping and bending down to her level. Something about the scared look in Kaia's eyes worried him.

"She's going to do something horrible to us." Kaia told him.

Jack frowned, but then smiled at Kaia. "No, she's not, baby."

"No," Kaia protested. "I saw her do something nasty when I was asleep."

Jack remembered his dream suddenly. The dream he had on the boat, of Kaia warning him, Kate begging him, Curtis screaming. Jack shook it out of him. "Come on," He said, taking Kaia's hand. "Let's give Curt his meat."

"Then can we dance?" She asked him hopefully.

"Then we can dance." He smiled at her.


	37. Message From Us All

**A/N: This chapter goes out to EternalConfusion, who actually gave me the idea for the ending of this chapter. In fact, the next few chapters go out to her, and to my cousins who are my muses for Kaia, Aaron and Curtis.**

Jack danced with Kaia, as he promised. He didn't see Sarah all that while, and he was glad for that. Of course, dancing with Kaia involved her standing on his feet, but he enjoyed spending that time with his baby girl, who wasn't exactly a baby anymore. He remembered when they were shopping on the boat, and Shannon had reminded him just how quickly she was growing up, and all he wanted was for her to be his baby girl forever.

Soon enough, as he had expected, camera crews and reporters began to set up at the back of the room. The speeches that were being made that night were being televised, and Jack sure didn't want to be the one who went first. He hated speeches, but he had been told that Locke was going to introduce the first group, who had begged to go first. So luckily, he might be able to hide in a crowd and be forgotten for a while, whilst people took their limelight.

When he saw Locke go up onto the stage, he stopped dancing with Kaia as the music faded, but remained standing there, holding her tiny hands in his.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if we could have some quiet please. There are some who want to say a few words. I personally don't have anything to say other than thank you for a wonderful ten years, and if I ever get stranded on an island again, I will know who to call." A few people laughed, and Kaia began to swing backwards and forwards on her heels, using Jack's arm strength to stop her from falling each time. "There has been a group who wanted to have the first say on stage, so if Kaia, Aaron and Curtis want to come up here."

Jack grinned, and Kaia ran off, taking Curtis's hand from where he sat with Sam, and then running up to the stage with Aaron. Jack went back and sat with Sam and Margo, not saying a word about Sarah to either of them, as they hadn't gotten a clear sight of her from where they had been sitting. So instead, he watched like any proud father as his children took to the stage.

Locke lowered the microphone for them, and then stepped off the stage. "Have fun kids, you're on TV." He told them, which was just caught by the microphone and amplified through the room.

"What's TV?" Aaron asked, letting the audience laugh.

"Kai! We watch TV!" Curtis realised, tugging on his sleeve. "It's the box in the wall with the people in!"

Jack smiled at Curtis's innocence, and saw how Kaia and him were still holding hands. Most siblings that age fought almost constantly, but somehow, they had managed to stop that. Seeing their hands clasped so sweetly made him smile so much that he just couldn't stop. It assured him that after all the doubts he had about parenting before Kaia's birth were all simply worries, and that he had been a good parent.

"Where's Sawyer?" Kaia asked Aaron. "You said Sawyer would come talk with us."

"SAWYER!" Aaron shouted out, not quite grasping the idea of a microphone, and watching as everyone, including himself who was standing infront of a large speaker, jumped and cover their ears.

"Wow, it makes your voice all loud." Kaia admired.

"Sawyer! Come on!" They called again.

Sawyer, however, was slinking over to the side near Jack and Sam. He really didn't want to go up on stage, especially on television, but the consistant chanting of the children who wanted him with them was too much of a pull for him, and he just couldn't resist. People applauded as he began approaching the stage, and the children jumped around excitedly.

"Right, let's get this party started kids." He told them.

"Sawyer, talk!" Curtis said, pointing at the microphone.

"Tell ya what, kiddo, hows about we let Kai and Aaron talk first, then we'll do our own speech, yeah?" He suggested.

Kaia and Aaron loved this opportunity, and after having a small discussion with each other, began to talk on the microphone while Sawyer took a seat on the edge of the stage, with Curtis standing beside him while they watched the other two.

"We liked living on the island." Kaia started. "It was fun."

"We had races on the beaches, and we ate nice food."

"We had a ginormous family with fifty people in. Everyone looked after us."

"Everyone looked after each other." Aaron corrected.

"My Daddy says that this is our home now, and that we're going to live in Sydney, and that's in Australia."

"We are too." Aaron says. "I've got a cousin called Megan now."

"We've got a grandma and a grandpa." Kaia enlighted.

"And Sawyer's got a _girlfriend!_" Aaron teased, and Sawyer shook his head looking away, no surprise that his eyes connected with a blushing Ana Lucia in the corner.

"Daddy says we can still go to the beach here, so that it will feel like home." Kaia said. "And that we can go lots of places that we've never been before."

"My Daddy said that he's going to build a big hotel like this one on our island so that we can go back there one day. And that lots of famous people will go there to play golf on our golf course." Aaron said, and lots of people laughed gently in the direction of Charlie, clearly interested in his golf course.

"And I think it's Sawyer's go now." Kaia said.

As they passed Sawyer the microphone, the survivors and their familys gave Kaia and Aaron an applause, which the two loved. Sawyer held it to himself and then didn't say anything for a long time. Kaia shook her head, and said close to the microphone... "Sawyer, if you don't hurry up, we'll get Daddy to do it." She said, with the room erupting in laughter, and Jack secretly hoping that Sawyer spoke quickly.

"Alright. Well, I don't know exactly what to say." He told them, talking to the children rather than the audience.

"Make something up. Like our stories. They were good." Curtis said.

Sawyer ruffled his hair. "Thanks, kid."

"Think of something." Aaron said, and they sat down on his other side.

"Right, well, I'm going to back to what John Locke said about this being televised. So, seeing as this is live and all, here are probably like a billion people watching this, and I know for sure that some high-up important people are going to watch this, who knows, maybe even the guys in charge of everything these days. So, I'm going to let these guys in on something that we all know, and they couldn't even begin to understand." Sawyer started. "One way or another, we did all made it back - but we didn't do it together, like we should have done. So while you're all sittin' there drinkin' to good luck and new lives, take a few minutes to think about the person who should be here with us." He looked at Curtis. "Who's not here, champ? Who's missing?"

"Mommy." Curtis said.

"You miss Mommy, don't you." He nodded. "Why?"

"Because they took her away."

"That's right. They took her away from you." Sawyer said, placing his hand on Curtis's shoulder. "His Mommy, who we all know as Kate Austen." Sawyer said to them, and Jack was listening intently in the corner. "Now, Freckles survived a lot through her life. She's got apast that only stopped runnin' through her pretty little head once she had Jack to keep her sane, and she's the only women out of all of you two have two pregnancies and births on the island. No disrespect to Claire," He doubled back, nodding in her direction. "But at least she learnt after having one kid without painkillersthat it hurt, but no, Kate had to do it twice. Right here, I've got two kids who should be sitting with their Mom instead of me. Kaia shouldn't have been dancing with me earlier on, she should have been twirling around the room with Kate, they they did on the beach all those times we saw them dancin' in the sand together. Curtis shouldn't be here beside me, he should be sittin' on Kate's hip, his arms around her neck like he always does. And Jack," He pointed over in Jack's direction, and the two men locked eyes for a moment, "Jack sure as hell shouldn't be sitting there on his own without her. I know I told them to get a room at times, but I'd rather see them hanging off each other than to see them seperated like this." Jack smiled at Sawyer. "Now, like I said, this speech is being shown all over the world right now, and I bet a lot of people what to know what really happened to us out there. In fact, they probably all think that I'm going to dish out some big secret right now. People are gonna want our autographs, interviews and stuff right now, which is why I'm gonna be the one who says this, on behalf of all of us."

Sawyer stood up, and so did the children, all standing closely together, Kaia slipping her hand in Curtis's again, which didn't escape Jack's notice.

"So, listen up, World. We all care about Kate, and not a single person here doesn't. And this is how it's going to happen. Without Kate, no interview will be given, no autographs, no posed pictures, nothing from any survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." The ultimatum actually caused all the press at the back of the room to gasp and start whispering, while the survivors all nodded in agreement. "Kate's a part of this too, and until she's back with her family, where she belongs, no one's gonna know a single thing about what happened on that island. Who's with me?"

All the survivors stood up and cheered. Jack noticed the expression that crossed Kaia's face as she looked over his shoulder towards the back of the room. He was about to look over his shoulder and see what had caused it when the sound died down, and her voice deafened in the microphone, causing the entire room to silence.

"Mommy!"

They all turned, and saw Shannon standing at the back of the room, and beside her, stood Kate.


	38. Only A Heartbeat Away

**This chapter is ENTIRELY Jate and completely dedicated to EternalConfusion. She recommended the idea for one of the dramatic endings to this chapter, but the very last one she doesn't know about, so that goes out to her :P Hope you like it girl! Pretty soon, we're going to cut quickly to the trial, and then after that, we're being thrown into what will probably be the final climax of the story. Saying that, it's going to last for ages because it will take up so many chapter, and by then I would have thought of something else. Anyway, enough from me, thank you to all my lovely reviewers. Cookies and Jabies for all! (for those who know what a Jaby is :D) And enjoy!**

Was it real?

Was it a dream?

Was it over?

Was it fate?

Whatever it was that held him to the ground, he threw it off as soon as he could, by that time, Kaia and Curtis were scrambling off the stage to get to their mother, and Jack ran the rest of the distance of the room that kept him from her. He didn't care for the cameras that followed him, or the reporters that called in his ear, all he cared about was reaching her, and doing so before anyone else could. When she saw him running, she ran towards him as well, and in the centre of the room, for all to see, their bodies collided.

As he held her close to him, he couldn't believe that the last time he had seen her had been that morning, as they were led off the boat; that the last time they had held each other like this had been only yesterday. It just showed Jack how much that he really needed her, to hold her, to guide him, and it no longer scared him just how much he loved her with all his heart. She relished in the feel of his arms around her, holding her safely. His arms could always protect her from the world, where nothing would harm her, because with one arm he'd fight the dangers off, and with the other he'd make sure that he never let her go. So he breathed her in, having not forgotten the scent of her hair that would never leave him, the softness of her curls feeling like silk across his face.

Reluctantly, he pulled back from her, still keeping her in his arms, as they gazed at each other with tears in their eyes.

"You're really here." He whispered, and fingered a coil of her curly hair to make sure that she was real, that this was real.

"Yeah." She nodded, unsure of what else to do. She was here, with Jack, and he had rendered her immobile.

"How?" He asked, although he didn't care how or why.

"My trial is in five days." She told him. "They're not keeping me in custody until then." She revealed, finally finding the words to tell him how.

"They're not?" He asked her, a grin spreading across his face. She shook her head. "So, you're home?"

She nodded. "I'm home." She answered with that smile he hadn't seen in days. Then she pulled his hand down to her stomach, and rested them both their. "We're home."

Grinning, and letting out a laugh, Jack gathered her into his arms once again, spinning her around the room as she laughed. Kate was back, for five days, nothing was going to take her away from him. He didn't care whether half the world saw him twirling her around as she squealed at the excitement of it. He wanted to shout his love from the rooftops and ... oh, he could do better than that!

He didn't have it planned, but in that few seconds of wondering how he could prove his love to her, he had planned it down to a tee. He placed Kate back down on her feet, and watched with a swelling heart as she bent down to Kaia and Curtis, who both flung themselves at her at the same time. She held them closely, scared that if she let go, she would never see them again, and a few days ago, she had done the same thing. The feeling of them being back in her arms after having been ripped from them on the boat was nothing short of bliss.

Jack felt a hand on his arm, and turned to see Shannon. "How?" He asked. "Did you know about this?" He asked her, remembering that Kate had been standing next to Shannon.

Shannon nodded. "I saw her be escorted into reception about an hour before the party, I didn't know where you were, so I took her upstairs to my room, and got her all dolled up for you, brought her down here."

"But you've been here the whole time." He pointed out.

"Yeah, but I went back for her." She said.

Jack smiled, and hugged her. "Thank you." He said.

"No problem. You all deserve it."

Kaia pulled away from her mother, and Kate stroked her cheek lovingly. "I missed you so much, baby." She said softly.

"I missed you more." Kaia said. "But I looked after Daddy and Curtis." She said proudly.

"I knew you would." She smiled. "Are you all right, Curt?" She asked him, placing a kiss on his forehead.

"Mommy's home." He stated, hugging her tightly with his arms around her shoulders, just like Sawyer had described a few minutes ago. "Everythings good now."

Kate grinned, and stood up, so Jack finally got a good look at what she was wearing. Clearly it was one of Shannon's dresses, but it looked like it had been made for Kate. The simple, emerald green dress that matched her eyes skimmed down over her knees, with a layered skirt and matching shoes. Somehow, Shannon had been in a city for a little less than ten hours, and managed to become up to date with every style and fill her wardrobe with it all. Her hair was half pulled up, with the underneath hanging down against her bare shoulders and back. Also, he was seeing her for the first time with make-up on. It wasn't extravagent amounts, as she had a special natural beauty that didn't need the aid of cosmetics, but it was only some shimmer and mascara that defined her emotion-filled eyes even more.

As Kate stood, she went back over to Jack, with Kaia trotting along after her as always. Ten minutes ago, during Sawyer's speech, Jack had felt downhearted, as if he would never see the scene again of Kate and Kaia dancing, or Kate holding Curtis, and now, almost magically, it had appeared before him. As she stood before him, a permanent grin crossed over her face, Jack softly held her chin in his hand, and turned her head slowly to their right, to where Sam stood. Kate's smile faded into something that formed confusion, then hope, then realisation, and then the grin returned.

Jack took Curtis into his own arms, and Kate began her way over to Sam. It had been almost fifteen years since she had seen him, and he looked older now, worn. Yet it was still him. She stood before him, and put her hand on his face.

"Daddy?" She whispered, almost to herself. She didn't feel strange calling him 'Daddy', like a child. He nodded. "You came."

"Katie." He whispered, and then enveloped her into large hug that she couldn't have got out of if she wanted to. Instead she hugged him back, and when he finally realeased her, he had tears in his eyes. "Look at you." He said, gazing at what she was wearing, how she held herself. "You're all grown up now."

"I was grown up before." She said, still smiling.

"But it's real now, you're a mother." He said, looking over at Kaia and Curtis. "A mother to two wonderful children who I was most happy to meet earlier."

Kate followed his gaze, smiling at Jack and the children. "I did it, Dad. I stopped running."

"I knew you could." He said, the faith that shone from him was almost contagious.

"Dad, I want to thank you, for what you did." Kate said, "For doing your job, and calling the marshals."

Sam frowned at her. "Why?"

"Because all of that led to me being on that plane." She told him. "If I wasn't on that plane, I wouldn't have them."

Sam smiled, understanding what she meant. "My only regret is not being there to see my grandchildren grow up."

Kate looked down, and then up again. "Well, you've got another chance for that." She told him, laying a hand on her stomach.

"Katie..." He started, and then smiled. "And you told me that you'd never be a mother." He joked, and Kate laughed, jumping into his arms again. Jack and the children came over, with Curtis sitting on Jack's hip still, and Kate lifted a giggling Kaia into her arms.

"Looks like I was wrong." She said to herself. "'Cause its the best thing thats ever happened to me." All the other survivors came over to hug Kate, ignoring the cameras that were still filming them, and welcomed back their friend and ally that they had just declared for over the cameras.

Jack, however, looked to Sam. "I, uh, I wanted to ask you something." He said gently.

Sam frowned, and their silence caught Kate's attention as well. The rest of the crowd died down as the mood changed, and they watched silently, curiously, as Sam nodded.

"Um, I wanted to do this all properly, and now seems like the best time, so..." He smiled at Kate, and then back at Sam. "I'd like to ask your permission." He said.

"For what?" Sam asked, smiling anyway because he knew exactly what Jack was going to ask him.

"To marry your daughter."

Kate grinned, and Jack turned back to her. With Kaia still in his arms, and Curtis in his, Jack waited for Sam to nod his blessing, and then bent down on one knee. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the box that had been there since that afternoon. He had asked Claire to watch the children for a while when he had gone shopping, knowing that he was going to ask Kate at the first chance he got, whenever he next saw her, and he was going to stand by that. He watched as Kate's eyes lit up.

He opened the box with one hand, steadying Curtis with the other, and then revealed the ring inside to her. It was a silver ring, with a diamond in the centre, and either side were two emeralds that perfectly matched the colour of her eyes.

"Jack..." She started, about to tell him that it was beautiful, but he stopped her, saying something similar to the night in the cave when they had first feared rescue only four or five days ago.

"Kate, our time on the island is over, but our time together isn't staying there. Nothing's going to make me leave this behind, leave you behind. We're going to be find now, more than fine. We'll make it, the five of us. Me, you, Kaia, Curtis, and the next one on the way. Us and our beautiful kids. We're together again, and nothing' going to tear us apart, because I can't live without you, and I don't even want to try." He took her free hand in his and kissed it. "Kate Austen, love of my life, mother of my children, will you marry me?"

Kate smiled, tears in her eyes, knowing that this was a question that didn't need answering, and he smiled back. Kate turned to Kaia, and nudged her a little. "What do you say, Kai? Shall Mommy marry Daddy?"

Kaia nodded. "Yeah!"

Kate turned back to Jack grinning. "I guess I can't say no to either of you. Of course I'll marry you, Jack, you never even had to ask." She said, and Jack stood up, bringing her into a kiss that he had waited for for a long time. As they kissed, Curtis and Kaia gave each other a high-five, as did Charlie and Hurley. When they parted, Jack slipped the engagement ring onto her finger. They kissed again and Kate murmered into his ear a single word. "Six."

"Six?" He asked.

"You said 'the five of us'," She reminded him, and brought their hands to her stomach again. "There's six of us."

"You mean-" He started, but Kate cut him off.

"They brought a doctor to the prison this morning, gave me a scan." She told him. "There was two heartbeats."

"Two!" Jack said, a grin splitting his face even more. "We're having twins?"

She nodded. "We're having twins."

They hugged again, and Sawyer, having heard this, turned to Hurley who was standing next to him. He raised his eyebrows. "Twins." He muttered.

"Dude, you mean, we've gotta deal with another _two _Jack and Kate cross breeds?"

**A/N: Shock horror! Jaby twins! For those who didn't know, a Jaby is a Jate-baby. I found that out on the lost forums yesterday and am now in love with the word Jaby. Just to run you up to speed, this is what's coming up in this story:  
1. Kate's trial and verdict, with some shocking witnesses.  
2. Jack's nightmare intertwining with Sarah's arrival  
3. A long hospital stay  
4. Jabies. Of course.  
and 5. A wedding.  
What do you think will make a better story ending? Jabies, or wedding? Please let me know cause I'm stuck for sure!**


	39. On My Way Into Your Loving Arms

Jack grinned as he held Kate close to him. Only a few minutes ago, he had been sitting at the side of the room, watching his children on stage with Sawyer, taking a stand for their mother, and as much as he felt pride over what they were doing, it upset him to no end that they were begging for their mother and she wasn't there. It was sad that at two years old, Curtis knew that all wasn't right in the world, because Kate wasn't there. Yet all it took was one word from Kaia, and everything was better. Now, three minutes later, he had Kate in his arms, his two children close to him, and two more children inside of Kate, when he had thought there was just one. Their family had literally been torn in half for a few days.

Kate pulled away first, looking down at the children with a smile on her face. "So, guys, did you have fun today?" She asked them, eager to learn what their first day in a new life was like. Curtis made a fuss about wanting to be in Kate's arms, so they swapped so that Kaia was on Jack's hip now.

"Can I tell you later?" Kaia asked.

"Sure honey, why's that?" Kate asked her with a small frown. "Didn't do something naughty I hope," She laughed.

"No, but I think I should tell you later. Cause I think that Daddy wants to dance with you." She said, sticking her tongue out at Jack.

"Oh do I now?" Jack asked her.

"Yeah, you do." Kaia nodded. "Cause Uncle Charlie and Aunty Claire have danced, Sawyer and Ana Lucia have danced, Uncle Hurley and Aunty Libby have danced, Aunty Shannon and Uncle Sayid have danced, Sun and Jin have danced, _everyone _'cept for you. And now Mommy's back, you can." She said simply.

Jack looked at her for a moment, and then leaned his forehead against hers, both staring at each other intently. Kate smiled at this, an action they had been doing since Kaia was younger than Curtis. "How did you get so smart?" Jack asked.

Kaia shrugged. "Must be from you, cause Mommy's still got her brain." She nodded.

"Oh," Jack said, teasingly, "I see, I don't have a brain anymore?" He said, getting ready to tickle her. Kaia noticed this and backtracked.

"You do now that Mommy's back!" She told him.

"How do you figure that?" He asked.

"Cause I heard you talking to Sawyer yesterday when you said that you can't think straight without Mommy here." Jack looked at Kate, seeing that she had smiled deeply. "And Mommy's back now, so you can think again." Then Kaia looked over Jack's shoulder, and back again. "Can we go play again now?" She asked sweetly.

Jack placed her back down on the floor. Kate tickled Curtis's chin. "Want to go play, baby?" She asked him.

Curtis shook his head. "No, stay with Mommy." He said defiantly.

"Curtis!" Kaia said to him. "Mommy and Daddy need to dance now. 'Member what I told you earlier about Grandmas?" Curtis nodded, and Kaia grinned. "Come on then!"

As the two ran off together back over to the table, Kate stepped into Jack again. "What did she tell him about Grandmas?" She asked with a smile.

"That Grandmas get you ice cream." He nodded.

"I guess I should go meet Grandma, right?" She asked, but Jack shook his head, seeing over her shoulder that Sawyer was talking to the guy who did the music, and looked like he was winning the argument.

"No, cause right now, we're going to listen to our daughter." He told her. "It's been a while since we've danced." He said, leading her to the centre of the dance floor, where other couples were already starting to gather again. They all waited patiently until the music started, staring at each other and declaring the silent love they each had for the other.

"When did you get to be so unimaginable romantic?" She asked with a smile.

_I set out on a narrow way, many years ago  
Hoping I would find true love, along the broken road  
But I got lost a time or two  
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through  
I couldn't see how every sign,  
Pointed straight to you._

Neither Jack nor Kate paid attention to the rest of the dancers around them. They just let themselves drown in the song lyrics that summed up their lives so well. Kate let out a heavy sigh.

"You Ok?" Jack asked her, pulling back a little so that he could see her face.

She nodded. "Yeah, Curtis was right." She told him. "I'm back now, everythings good again." She smiled, and Jack leaned to give her a kiss. She responded, her arms tightening around his neck, making sure that their mouths collided as much as possible. 

Every long lost dream  
Lead me to where you are  
Others who broke my heart  
They were like northern stars  
Pointing me on my way  
Into your loving arms  
This much I know is true  
That God blessed the broken road  
That led me straight to you

When they parted from the kiss, Kate could see the sadness that had filled Jack's eyes. "Jack, what's wrong?" She asked, her eyes darknening with worry. "It's alright, everything's going to be Ok now." She assured him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

She frowned. "What for? Jack, you haven't got anything to apologize for." She told him with a comforting smile.

"I'm sorry that I let them take you." He told her, and she didn't say a word, mainly because as soon as she opened her mouth to speak he continued. "I'm sorry, Kate. I promised you that I wouldn't let us be separated, I promised that we'd always be together, not a single day apart."

"And we will be." She nodded. "Jack, we're going to get married." She reminded him, although there was not a single thing in the world that could remove that memory from his mind. "We're together now, everythings going to be fine."

I think about the years I spend, just passing through  
I'd like to have the time I lost, and give it back to you  
But you just smile and take my hand  
You've been there you understand,  
It's all part of a grander plan,  
That is coming true

Jack nodded, and kissed her again, before enclosing her so tightly in his arms that she couldn't have moved away even if she had wanted to. "I'm never going to let anyone take you away from me again." He muttered to her, his lips grazing her ear, sending shudders down her spine, familiar tingles that told her she was home. "I love you so much, Kate. What I said before, it's not even half of how I feel, but it was the best I can do, because you make me speechless every time I start to say it."

They stopped dancing now, just holding each other tightly. Kate had her arms now wound so tightly against Jack's back that she could have moulded her shape there, especially with the way that Jack was holding her back, his cheek pressed against the top of her head.

"Don't ever let me go, Jack." She begged him quietly, her breath warm through his shirt. "I can't do this without you." She admitted.

"Can't do what?" He asked.

"Living." She said. "It's too hard without you." He could see the tears now falling down her face as he met her eyes. "I just can't do it. I need you." She said.

_  
Every long lost dream,  
Led me to where you are  
Others who broke my heart  
They were like northern stars  
Pointing my on my way  
Into your loving arms  
This much I know is true  
That God blessed the broken road  
That led me straight to you  
_

Jack kissed where her tears were falling, stopping the salty droplets before they could course any further. He didn't care about the people standing only ten feet away at the nearest table, watching them with 'awwws'; his mother, her father, their friends. All he cared about now was that Kate was back, and that she was here in his arms, talking to him, holding him, breathing alongside him once again.

"Kate, I'm never going to leave you." He promised her, the sincerity in his eyes stronger than the pain of being alone in hers. "You mean too much to me, you don't just mean everything to me, you _are _everything, and I don't even want to think about living my life without you." His hand came to stroke the side of her face lovingly, and she leaned into his touch. "I had to remind myself to breathe when you weren't here, just so that I could see you again."

"Oh, Jack..."

_Now I'm just rolling home  
Into my lovers arms  
This much I know is true  
That God blessed the broken road  
That led me straight to you  
_

"I mean it, Kate. I love you, more than anything this world can give me. I would have given up long ago if you weren't beside me. I needed you more than I cared to admit, and I should have told you that sooner." He said, still tracing the outline of his jaw. "People wanted us together from day one, and we denied it, because we didn't want to admit that it might actually mean something, and now look. Kaia and Curtis, is that enough proof for us? The ring on your finger?" He lowered his hand to lay on her stomach. "These wonders?"

Kate rested her hand over his. "We can always make more proof." She laughed, with Jack following suit.

"I can't believe it's twins." He mused, looking at her stomach and then back up at her with the excited expression of a child. "Twins...I'm gonna be a Dad again...twice."

"Yeah, four kids." She agreed. "Going to be a handful." She warned him.

"I don't care." He shook his head. "We're going to love every second of it." He predicted. "If there's nothing else in life I accomplish, I don't want to be the person I was before." He told her, still looking at her stomach, his hand sprawled across it.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I'm not going to work all the time again." He decided. "No more coming home in the middle of the night. I don't want to come home when you're already asleep and leave before you wake up again. No more snappy comments because I'm tired. I'm going to have regular hours, so that I can be there for you and the kids." Kate smiled. "I've been there everyday to see Kaia and Curtis getting bigger, and I'm not prepared to give that up because of a change of location. And I've got two more little ones to watch grow now, and it's going to be the same with them. I want them to know who their father is."

Kate leaned up and kissed him again, and this time, they were in no rush for it to end. Their broken roads had brought them together, and their new path was going to keep them together. The fact that Kate's trial was in five days was looming, but she had been allowed home until then, which was a very good sign. Yet, unfortunately for them both, Jack had forgotten his encounter with Sarah...

_Yes, God blessed the broken road,  
That led me straight to you._

A/N: Yes, this chapter was full of Jate...yes, it was as cute as I could make it...no, its not going to last. Jack and Kate have another hardship to deal with in the next chapter, and could this be the worst one yet?


	40. Missing?

**Ok, you're gonna hate me for this. EternalConfusion already does (thank you for checking it for me!). I believe her words involved "what the hell are you doing" and something involving a spade making contact with my head. It's just a short-ish chapter to set things up while I get down to the rest of it.**

**xxx**

They danced for a few songs, one even that was older and Kate actually knew, but eventually Sam came over to steal a dance from his daughter. Jack obliged, wanting to make sure that the children weren't up to no good. He could just imagine Kaia's curiosity getting the better of her in a place like this. He resisted look up, expecting her to be hanging from a chandelier on the ceiling, or that disco ball she had loved so much, but that was just him panicking.

"Jack?" Kate asked, noticing him looking around in every different direction.

"Where's Kaia?"

Curtis was sitting with Margo, eating ice cream, to no surprise, but Kaia wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere that Jack could see. At his question, Kate also began to look around madly. Only ten minutes ago, maybe more, Kaia and Curtis had gone over to see Margo together, hand in hand. Now Curtis was without his sister at his side.

"Where is she?" She asked, even though she knew that Jack didn't have an answer.

"Kate," Sam started. "Relax, there are a lot of people here, I'm sure she's fine..." But Kate cut him off.

"Exactly, there are a lot of people here!" She pointed out. "She could be anywhere, if she ran off, no one would have noticed!" Six years ago, Kate had struggled with the idea of being a mother. She had worried that she wouldn't be enough, that she couldn't be a parent, but it was all the little things that proved her wrong. Such as the amount she worried over her children. And when Kate was in 'protective mother' mode was not someone you crossed, as Sawyer often found out.

"She's a smart kid, Kate." Sam assured her, and Kate started to break.

"I know that, Dad." She said, hers and Jack's eyes still scanning around madly. By now, a few others had noticed that they were looking for someone. "But she's exactly like me, who knows what could have happened? Unless you're sitting next to her she'll eat anything that fits in her mouth." Her face looked panicked. "Oh, god! What if she's choked! Jack, what if she's choked?" She asked desperately, grabbing hold of his arm.

He turned to face her. "She hasn't choked. I'm going to find her." He assured her.

The pair went over to where Margo was sitting, being stopped by Charlie on the way. "What's happening?" He asked.

"Have you seen Kaia?" Jack asked.

"She was here a minute ago..." He trailed off, noticing that she wasn't here anymore. "And she's not with Aaron."

"But she's always with Aaron!" Kate protested.

"Aaron's been with Sawyer all night." Charlie shrugged, indicating to where the pair were still sitting on the stage together.

Jack leaned over the table to Margo. "Mom, where's Kaia?" He asked.

"She went over to the table to get more duck." She answered, pointing in the direction of the table. Jack looked over, but the table of food was now deserted.

"You let her go on her own?" He asked.

"It's not the other side of the world, Jack." She assured him.

"Damnit!" He muttered.

"What?" Kate asked.

"Nothing." He lied. He didn't want her to panick. "Maybe Sawyer's seen her."

Sawyer hadn't seen her. But he also joined the search.

Ten minutes later, Kate was asking any random person if they had seen Kaia, and she went back to Jack a complete state. "Jack, what are we going to do?" She asked. "Where could she have gone?"

"She hasn't left the hotel, reception hasn't seen her." Sawyer reported.

"None of the camera team have seen her." Charlie told them.

"Jack..." Kate said desperately, tears in her eyes. "Where is she?"

"Wait," He realised, one arm around Kate's shoulder to comfort her. "If reception hasn't seen her then that means she must still be in the room." He deducted.

"What if someone's taken her?" Kate asked fearfully.

Jack came round in front of her. "Kate, listen to me. Kaia is going to be just fine." He promised her. "I'm going to find her, Ok?" She nodded, and he hugged her tightly whilst she gripped him to her. She was scared, scared for her daughter, her precious little girl that they had faced hell and back again to have with them.

"Jack, please, find her." She begged, her eyes prickling with tears.

He kissed the top of her head, and pulled away, going back into the leader mode that he thought he had left back on the island.

"Right, Sawyer, go over to the DJ, get hold of that microphone, and call out her name, keep going for five minutes, as long as you can, get her to come to you if she can hear you. Charlie, check the room again, under the tables, wherever you can get to. Kate, go to Curtis, make sure he's alright, and keep him calm, whatever you do, don't let him know about Kaia. Sit in the reception and keep a look out for anything. Sam, come with me, we're going to keep looking through the hotel. We'll grab Sayid and John as well." Everyone had their orders, and dispersed. Jack grabbed Kate's arm as she went to walk away, and then nodded at her. "Kate, she'll be Ok." He assured her, before letting her walk away.

Jack, Sam, Sayid and Locke set off through the hotel, they checked every floor, they checked the jungle gym, the kitchens, everywhere they could, and for an hour, they found nothing. Then, just around the corner from reception, near a side exit, was a plant which had a small shell in it. Jack approached it wearily, not wanting to believe it, but he picked the shell necklace up. He looked at it in his hands for a moment. The string it used to be tied with was snapped beside the knot, and he then turned, showing it to the others.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"It's Kaia's." Jack said sadly. "Her and Kate have matching ones. We made them on the beach." He revealed, closing his hand up around it.

Sayid, meanwhile, had checked the door the their left, and came back in, shutting it behind him. Jack looked at him with hopeful eyes, and it killed Sayid to shake his head. "There's nothing there." He told them.

Jack's head fell. He shut his eyes tightly, willing this all to go away. But it didn't.

1...

It started to sink in, Kaia wasn't here, Kaia was missing, his little girl.

2...

He had promised not two hours ago that nothing would split his family up again, and now, a little while later, Kaia was gone.

3...

She was five years old, she's never been in a civilisation like this before.

4...

What if she was hurt? What if something terrible had happened?

5...

The fear he thought would become controlled became stronger. The counting hadn't worked. For once in his life, he was unable to control his fear.

Turning on his heel, they went back to reception. He headed immediately to the desk, Kate jumping up from the seats. Shannon sat over with her, and stayed beside the now sleeping Curtis as Kate followed them to the reception.

"Jack?" She asked slowly. "Jack, please, don't-" She was holding his arm tightly. She looked around them, expecting Kaia to come jumping out from behind one of them "Jack, where is she?" She asked quietly, fearfully. She looked at Locke, Sayid, even her father, but none of them would look her in the eye.

"Can I borrow your phone?" Jack asked the receptionist. She placed the handset on the counter.

"Didn't you find her?" Kate asked increduloudly. Jack didn't answer, and she began to cry, tears streaming down her face. Jack dialled a number, and Kate watched as he lifted the handset to his ear. "Jack..." She pleaded, one last time before the person on the other side of the phone answered. She couldn't hear the greeting of who he had called, even though she was less than an inch from him, her pleading eyes tear-ridden. She would never forget the words that left his mouth that night.

"Hello? Yes, my name's Jack Shephard...I'd like to report a missing child."

A/N: Please don't hate me!Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Please don't hate me!


	41. Find My Baby

**Right, so now that my lovely readers all hate me...time to start making you hate me even more before you love me again (which hopefully you will, otherwise I might stop writing this...hehehe...I'm evil). Let me assure you first, that I love Kaia very much, seeing as she's inspired from my cousin, who is more or less like her in every way, which is why she comes out with a lot of funny comments; therefore, I will not be letting any harm come to her, and anyone who does upset her, make her cry, or make her scared, will suffer extremely at the hands of the Lost Men...and Kate.**

**xxx**

**Chapter 41: Find My Baby**

When Jack put the phone down, he turned his head to face Kate. In a few hours, she had gone from being happy, to being terrified. The look on her face at that moment was one he would never forget, and it would probably haunt his dreams that night, although he doubted that he would sleep with the idea of his little girl out there somewhere, without them. As the tears streamed down Kate's face, Jack enveloped her into his arms, both of them clinging tightly to each other, trying to gather more strength, but finding that they only weakened in spirit.

"Jack..." Kate wept. "Jack, where is she?" She asked fearfully, as her painful sobs racked against him, causing his own chest to heave. But he refused to cry, not now, he needed to be strong for the rest of his family. It was his job to protect them, and he failed, so now he had to pick up the peices again.

"I don't know." He admitted quietly, burying his face in her hair, trying to escape the reality, and hoping that when he looked up again, Kaia would bound into the room, laughing, and apoligizing for making them worried because she was only playing hide and seek. "I don't know."

"Haven't we been through enough?" Kate asked, but Jack didn't have an answer for that. In the past week, their usual lives had been turned completely upside down. He wished that they were back on the island again, back _home _again, where they were safe, where they knew the dangers, and lived around them. Now, they were back in the real world, with other dangers that he hadn't thought about, and he couldn't protect his children.

They held each other for what seemed like ages until Shannon came over, speaking to Sayid. "What happened?" She asked, but Jack released Kate, and turned to answer her.

"She's not here. That's what happened." He said bitterly. "She's gone." Even though he had turned, he kept his arms around Kate, who was now sobbing into his shoulder. Tears were streaming down his own face now, and was ashamed to hide it.

"Gone?" Shannon repeated, unable to believe it.

"We checked everywhere, she's not in the hotel." Sayid said softly to Shannon.

"What happens now?" Kate asked, still crying.

Jack kissed her forehead. "The police are on their way." He said, although the mention of police probably didn't console her any seeing as she had spent the past three days with them.

"Jack?" Jack turned to see Margo coming towards them. "What's wrong, why aren't any of you in the party?" She asked. "Is Kaia ok?"

"I don't know, Mom!" Jack said, nearly exploding.

"Well, where is she?"

Jack hated all the questions coming at him, and he couldn't provide an answer to them. "I don't know!" He said rather loudly, and he tightened his arms around Kate as Margo realised that both of them were crying. "I don't know where she is, because we can't find her." He said quietly. "She's not in the hotel."

"Well, if she's not here, where else could she be?" She asked.

Jack rolled his eyes, and looked at Margo with his protective glare that only ever arose when one of his chldren were in pain, or scared, or in danger. "Mom, if I knew where she was, do you really think I'd still be here?" He asked hypothetically. "If we knew where she was, I'd be bringing her home right now, but I can't because I don't know!" He hugged Kate again, letting out a sob that to him, signalled giving in, so he tried to hide himself in her as a few sobs came. "I just..don't know."

At that moment, Sawyer and Charlie came in from the other room. Jack and Kate both looked up hopefully, but they shook their heads. "Not a thing." Sawyer muttered, and Kate put her head in her hands.

"Hey, hey," Jack said softly, bringing her hands down to look at him. Even when she was sobbing her heart out, she was beautiful. "Hey, don't worry." He said, but she shook her head.

"Don't worry?" She repeated. "Don't worry? Jack, she's five years old! She's a little girl, _our _little girl, and she's out there, all alone, or worse." She sobbed. "What if she's hurt, Jack? What if she's out there somewhere, and she's scared, and she's calling for us, and we can't hear her, we can't help her? What if-"

"Stop that," Jack told her, but it came out as more of a beg, and levelled himself with her. "Don't think that way. Listen to me, Kaia's going to be Ok." He said, getting her to nod along with him. "I'm going to bring her home, I promise." He said surely. "But I can't do that unless I know you believe in it."

She launched herself into his arms again. "I just want her back." She said, choked by her sobs. "I want her back."

A few minutes later, the police came into the reception, and Jack and Kate looked up. A man and women wearing suits approached the crying couple, and showed their identification. "Jack Shephard?" They asked, and Jack nodded, and the man continued. "I'm DCI Scott Evans and this is Cheif Inspector Jennifer Colson. You called a minute ago to report a missing child?" He checked.

Jack nodded. "Yes, our daughter."

"I'm sorry to hear that, is there somewhere we can go to talk?"

"Yeah, upstairs."

Jack went over and carefully lifted the sleeping Curtis from the chair, staying still for a moment whilst his son got comfortable against him, and then went over to Kate. Kate smiled sadly at the little boy, softly stroking his back before they headed upstairs. Shannon and Sayid offered to take Curtis for a while, while they were talking to the police, but Kate didn't want to let him out of her sight, which they could understand. Together, they all went upstairs, with the police.

After Kate lay Curtis down on the bed, she returned to sit down beside Jack on the couch, whilst they answered all the inspectors questions. What was her full name? Kaia Sahara Shephard. How old was she? Five years old. When was her birthday? April twenty-third. Could they describe her appearance? Dark brown curly hair, like Kate's, with brown eyes, and lots of freckles. When was the last time they had seen her? Two hours ago, at the party. What was she wearing? The outfit that they had brought on the boat.

Kate sat silently, letting Jack answer the questions. She just didn't know what to say. Her baby, her little girl, her only daughter, was somewhere out in the world, and she couldn't get to her. She couldn't protect her. She just leaned against Jack's shoulder, letting her head fall limp against him, and shut her eyes, willing it all to go away. She could barely hear Jack explaining the preceedings of the evening to Evans and Colson, and tried to block everything out. She wanted to be back on the island. It's dangers were better than ones here.

"Are you there's no chance that she would have run off on her own accord?" Evans asked. "Maybe she was upset about the sudden change of location..."

Kate shook her head. "No." She whispered, not opening her eyes. "No, she wouldn't of." Considering it was the first that the two inspectors had heard of Kate speaking, they listened intently. Jack picked up her hand in his free one, which wasn't draped around her back reassuringly, and rubbed the inside of his palm with his thumb. Kate kept her eyes closed still as she continued on. "Back on the island, she knew that it was dangerous to run off, she knew never to go anywhere on her own. She'd never do something like this." Kate muttered. "She's always with either Curtis, or Aaron, and they knew that the jungle was dangerous. She was never on her own. She knew better." She looked at Jack, and then closed her eyes again, breathing deeply. "She was taken. Someone took her from us."

Evans and Colson looked at each other. "Ms Austen, I am sure that this is a very upsetting time for you, but we have to go through all the options before we reach a conclusion." Colson told her softly.

"Just find her." Kate begged. "Just find my baby. Find my baby."

"That's our job, ma'am." Evans nodded.

Jack re-tightened his hold around Kate's shoulders, rubbing them with his one hand, just to remind her that he was there. "What happens now?" He asked them.

"I need you to fill in a report, and then straight away we get officers and forensics scouting the area, looking for any clues as to where she has gone. In the meantime, we shall check the CCTV footage for the hotel, and see exactly how Kaia left the building, and who, if anyone, she was with. Once we have a lead from that, we'll do a press conference, which will probably be tomorrow morning. There, it's just necessary for one of you to send a message out to your daughter, to let her know that she's being looked for, and to give any information about her, like her interests and habits, that might hint someone as to where they might have seen someone with her description. Also, we're going to need a recent photograph of her." Evans recited, as if he did this everyday.

Jack nodded. "A friend of ours took a few on the boat, and some earlier today. I'll get them printed tomorrow." He said, remembering Shannon running around with a camera as soon as she had brought one. Several had been taken that evening as well, mainly press ones.

Jack and Kate both filled in and signed the report, and Kate went into the bedroom to find the leather baby bracelets they had made that told them the weight Kaia was at birth as best they could estimate. When the form was filled in, Kate felt so drained, that she began to feel dizzy, and she leaned against Jack again, dropping heavily into his shoulder as he caught her. She took deep breaths trying to calm herself, forcing herself to focus on the inspectors comments, asking Jack a few last questions, and telling them their next moves.

"For now, I suggest that the two of you get some sleep, and spend time with your son, as not to alarm him." Evans suggested. "We will check the CCTV, and come get you when we find something that gives us a lead." He nodded, and they both stood up to leave. Jack also, stood up, with Kate leaning back against the sofa, not wanting to rise, to tired to stand. Together, the three went to the door, and then the inspectors left, leaving the hotel room in a strange silence that killed them both.

Jack went back over to where Kate was sitting, and frowned down at her. He could now see how pale she was, her face turning an odd colour as she sat, determindly focusing her own breathing. Jack sat sideways beside her, put his hands either side of her face, one then checking her temperature. Instead of burning up, as he had feared, her skin felt cold and clammy.

"Kate?" He asked softly. She let out a small groan in responce. "Kate, baby, look at me." He instructed, and wearily she opened her eyes. "What's the matter?" He asked her. "Do you feel faint?" She nodded weakly, and rested her head backwards again, but Jack put his hand under her neck, and eased her up into a sitting position. "No, no, not backwards, thats it, lean forwards, put your head between your legs."

She leaned forwards, taking in deep breaths, and then sat up alarmingly. "I think I'm going to be sick." She stated, and Jack quickly took her to the bathroom, seeing as she didn't know where it was yet.

Once there, Kate knelt infront of the toilet, and began to throw up over and over again. Jack sat behind her, pulling the remainder of her hair back, which wasn't already pulled up, and rubbing her back. The mixture of the new stress and the pregnancy was clearly taking its toll on her. Once she was done, she leaned back against Jack, and sighed heavily.

"That better?" Jack asked her, releasing her hair and wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah." She croaked, her voice hoarse from the retching.

"You should get some sleep." Jack suggested. "Or at least lay down for a while." He added on, highly doubting that Kate would sleep easily tonight, neither of them would, not while Kaia wasn't with them.

Kate shook her head. "Not yet. Can't move." She said weakly, collapsing further against him.

"I think I can solve that problem." He whispered, and lifted her into his arms, proceeding to carry her into the bedroom as she put up no arguement to surrendering to him.

He lay her down on the edge of the bed, and then retrieved one of his sweatshirts and sweatpants he had brought the other day. He helped her to get out of the dress and into the more comfortable clothes, releasing her thick curly hair from the hair ties it was in so that it hung over her shoulders, and then covered her with the thick duvet as she lay down. She closed her eyes, feeling weak and sickly, and at the same time, scared and lonely, wanting her daughter back. Jack pressed a kiss to her forehead, and smoothed her hair down. When she let out a sigh, he moved the hang the dress up, just needing to do something with his hands, something to occupy him. As he stood on the other side of the room, hanging the dress against the door of the cupboard, he heard Kate weakly call out to him.

"Jack..." She said, and he turned. She opened her eyes and looked at him pleadingly. He could tell from the way she was laying that she had one hand on her stomach protectively. "...Can you bring Curtis in here?" She asked him.

He nodded, realising that it was probably not a good idea for Curtis to wake up in a room on his own and get scared. He left the bedroom, and went into the next room, lifting the sleeping Curtis from his bed carefully, and taking him back into Kate. He placed him in the centre of the bed, and Jack started to change into sweatpants and a t-shirt to sleep in. Curtis was now wearing the blue pyjamas that had been brought the other day.

When he got into the other side of the bed, Curtis cuddled up between the two of them. "Mommy? Daddy?" He asked, still practically asleep, and Kate pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Yes, baby, Mommy and Daddy are here." She told him, and Curtis fell back asleep.

Jack reached across Curtis, and put his hand on Kate's back, and the three of them fell asleep, holding each other, even though that the newly engaged couple fought against sleep. Neither of them wanted to be there that few seconds in the morning where they wondered where Kaia was, and then remembered that she was missing, that she had been taken. The last thing Jack remembered before he fell asleep, was vowing that he would never give up until Kaia was back home.


	42. Fear

The next morning, Jack and Kate sat during breakfast in an awkward silence. What little they did eat they ate in their room, and then went about their morning as best they could until the police contacted them again. Kate was sitting cross legged on the couch, Curtis in her lap as together they watched a morning television show for children. Kate wasn't watching it though, Jack could see the far off look in her eye that she had, and it killed him to know that he couldn't take it away. The silence was empty without Kaia's chatter, even Curtis was silent as he watched the programme completely mesmerised by the concept still.

So far, he hadn't questioned his sister's whereabouts, and so Kate and Jack hadn't said anything to him. After all, what could they say?

Jack went and sat beside them, having cleared away after breakfast, and put his arm around Kate's shoulders. She leaned her head against him straight away, and leaning on each other, they sat in silence for a while. Curtis had one hand buried in Kate's hair, twirling it between his fingers absent mindedly, then Jack realised something.

"I'd better go get those pictures from Shannon." He said quietly.

Kate nodded, knowing that they were the photographs for the police, the photographs. "Jack?" She asked, as he stood to leave, he turned back to her. "Can I see them, before you give them to the cops?" She said, not lifting her eyes from the television.

Jack nodded. "Of course."

She was doing it again. Shutting herself off. Jack mused on this idea as he went down the hall to Shannon and Sayid's room. It was about nine-thirty now, and he knew that they would be awake considering they were just as used to early risings as he was. He knocked on the door, and Shannon answered.

"Hey, Jack." She smiled. "Any news?"

He shook his head. "I need your help." He said softly. Shannon noticed that his voice was void of all hope that used to be there. It was as if a light inside him had gone out. In fact, it was almost as if Kate had never come back.

"Sure, come in." She said, stepping back and closing the door once she had entered. "How can we help?" She asked, and Sayid nodded to Jack as he sat beside him on the couch.

"The police need photographs of Kaia, and I remembered that you had a camera on the boat." Jack began.

"Oh, I went and got them developed yesterday." Shannon remembered. "I'll go get them. I did you and Claire copies anyway because they were mainly pictures of the kids. There's copies I bribed out of the photographers last night as well."

Shannon went over to her handbag, and pulled out a set of photographs from the three sets and handed it to Jack. "Here." She said, and Jack nodded.

"Thanks, Shannon." He said.

"No problem. How's Kate?" She asked, sitting in another chair.

Jack sighed. "Not good, what with morning sickness as well." He told them. "Besides, you know how protective she is of the kids."

"Oh yeah, definately." Shannon mused. "What about Curt?" She asked.

Jack shook his head. "He hasn't asked anything yet." He stood up, "Thanks for the pictures, Shannon."

"It's nothing." She waved off. "Go take care of them." She said, giving Jack a hug. Jack hugged her back, patted Sayid on the shoulder, and then left.

* * *

When he got back to his and Kate's room, he handed the pack of photographs to Kate. "Here." He said softly, settling back down beside her. "Shannon had done us a copy anyway because they were nearly all of the kids."

Kate nodded, "It'll be nice to have some pictures finally." She said with a hint of a smile.

Together, they looked through them. There was one of Sawyer being tormented by Kaia and Aaron over a fried breakfast, with Jack and Curtis only half out of shot. One of Sayid and Shannon, one of Charlie and Claire with Aaron in between them. One of Kaia and Aaron from when they were shopping, looking extremely bored, but also looking curiously around them. One of Kaia and Curtis sitting together on a chair with their arms around each other. One of all three children against a netted wall from the play area. Individual ones of all three children modelling their outfits for the evening party. One of Jack and Kaia dancing. One of Kate and Jack hugging each other with the kids after he had proposed to her.

Kate went back to the individual one of Kaia in her outfit and sighed. "I guess that we'll have to give them this one." She said sadly. "She looks so happy."

"Like she always is." Jack added.

Kate nodded, and then took the individual of Curtis, showing it to him. "Look at this honey, who was a handsome boy last night?" She asked in that sing-song voice to show him that everything was ok.

Curtis looked at the photograph. "That's me!" He said, pointing at it.

"Sure is." Kate said brightly, kissing the side of his head.

He caught sight of the other one in Kate's hand. "And that's Kai!" He said just as amazed. "Kai! Look! It's you!" He looked around as he called to her, but he didn't get any answer. "Kai?" He asked again, but Kate closed her eyes when he looked at her in confusing. "Mommy? Where's Kai? Daddy, where's Kai?"

Jack and Kate looked at each other sadly. Jack took Curtis into his lap. "Curtis, Kaia's not here right now." He explained.

"Why not? Doesn't she want to be?" He asked. "She does, cause she told me she likes it here." He continued.

"I know, little man, I know. But you see, Kaia's lost right now." He said.

"Lost?"

"Yes, she's somewhere else, and she can't find her way home." Jack said.

"Why not?" Curtis asked.

"Because she doesn't know where she is." He said. Curtis looked heartbroken that his sister wasn't with them, and that she was lost.

"But Daddy, Kaia will get scared on her own!" He protested.

"I know, Curtis. But don't you worry, we're going to bring her home again."

"Soon?" Curtis asked.

Jack nodded firmly. "Soon."

Kate went to speak, when the door sounded. Jack stood up to answer it and saw Evans and Colson standing before him.

"Did you find anything?" Jack asked immediately before they had a chance to speak.

"We need you both to come and look at some video footage." They said simply.

Kate, having been listening to them, left Curtis sitting on the couch and went over beside Jack. "Do you know where she is?"

"Not yet, but we hope that either of you may recognise someone who was seen with her."

They left Curtis with Charlie and Aaron down the hall whilst they went into the security booth and watched through the tapes with the inspectors. The first scene showed the image of Jack and the two children coming through reception into the hall. They nodded, as Jack remebered it, and then they fastforwarded on the same camera until Jack quickly saw Kate enter. They watched it normally since then, and noticed various people walking by. Then they saw Kaia emerge from the room, seemingly being pushed out tentatively, followed by a woman.

"Shit." Jack murmered.

They skipped to a different camera setting which showed the room from a wider angle, which showed how well hidden Kaia was from a group of people which explained why reception never saw her leave. There was a struggle between the woman and Kaia when Kaia tried to run off and the woman grabbed her, and Jack realised that this must have been when Kaia's necklace was snapped and had fallen in the plant. Then through the side door that they had checked, Kaia was pulled out of it by the woman.

"Oh god."

Kate was staring at the screen in shock. They had just watched the video footage that showed her daughter being kidnapped. She swallowed. "Is there anymore?" She asked slowly.

"There's outside footage of the two of them getting into a car, but thats it." Evans told them. "We have the liscence number and are tracking it down as we speak."

She nodded nonchalently. The police tracked back and zoomed in on a frame that showed the woman's face. "Do either of you recognise this woman from anywhere?" Colson asked.

Kate leaned in closely, and then shook her head. "No." She said simply.

"Mr Shephard?" They asked.

Jack stared at it, trying to find another image in his mind that would fit, but there was no other. It was the same hair, the same dress, the same figure, the same woman. He wondered how someone he had once thought he loved could do such a thing to him and Kate.

"Sir?"

He looked up at them. "Yes." All heads whipped around to him, and he sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "Her name is Sarah Harrington." He said, and Kate frowned, remembering the name.

"How do you know her?" Evans asked.

"She's my ex-wife." Jack groaned. "We split thirteen years ago, long before we crashed on the island." He couldn't believe it. Kaia was right. Sarah had done something to hurt them.

* * *

Jack came back into the hotel room that night to see Kate and Curtis asleep together on the couch. He had been questioned by the police about Sarah, and he had sent Kate back upstairs while he did. After all, she couldn't contribute any knowledge about Sarah, and Curtis was probably worried about where they were. The television was still on when Jack came in, so he guessed that the pair of them probably had fallen asleep waiting for him. He sighed to himself. Turning the television off by the remote, he carried both Kate and Curtis in turn into the bedroom, then went into the kitchen.

He poured himself a glass of water, catching glimpses of the dinners on the side. Jack hadn't had any, but he saw that the child's meal had been eaten for the most part, and the other had simply been moved around the plate. That meant that Kate had barely eaten all day. He shook his head, making a mental note to make sure that she ate breakfast tomorrow. He knew that she was scared, and worried for Kaia, but she had the twins to think about. She needed her strength.

He groaned, placing his head in his hands and leaning his elbows on the kitchen counter, the glass of water forgotten. How had things come to this? Was Sarah really that desperate to get him back. The police were starting to question the other survivors tomorrow about Kaia, and the last they had seen her. They'd had to do the press conference that morning as well, where they made their appeal to the public for any information on Sarah or Kaia, although it clear that they didn't care about Sarah, they just wanted Kaia back. In the last few days, he had come to depend on her so much whilst Kate was away, and drew strength from the girl who's strength seemed never to waver. Now, she was gone, Kate was falling apart, and his strength was only coming from his determination to return Kaia to where she belonged.

He downed the glass of water in one, and then went over into the bedroom. He stopped when he got to the coffee table in the lounge however, noticing the ways in which Kate and Curtis had busied themselves whilst he was being questions. The photographs of Kaia for the police had been copied already, and the mother and son had framed the rest of them, setting them out on the table randomly. From the empty pots of glitter and glue around, he guessed that they had added the extra decoration to the frames which glistened in the moonlight that came in through the window.

Jack sat down on the couch, looking at them all. He picked up the one of all four of them, hugging each other just after he had proposed to Kate. It was strange to look at it and know that this was their first family photo. If he and Kate had met under normal circumstances, they would have had a house full of photos of them and the kids. He knew that, because he loved having photographs around him. It was one of the things that he vowed to have once they were settled down in Sydney together. For once, he would be able to have pictures of his newborn children.

Sighing, he replaced the picture and went into the bedroom. Kate and Curtis were lying beside each other, just as he had left them. He only removed his shoes, getting up on the bed to lie beside them, adopting the same pose as the previous night, and let himself collapse into a state of unconciousness.

"JACK!"

It was Kate's scream that awoke him. He was up on his feet in seconds. Curtis was still asleep behind him and hadn't been awoken by Kate's desperate call. He looked around, Kate wasn't in the room, and he heard her sobbing from the living room. Immediately, he ran into the room, having woken up fully, and found her leaning against the kitchen side, one hand holding her up, and the other held against her stomach. Within two seconds he was at her side, getting her to look at him.

"Kate, Kate, it's alright," He stared, but she shook her head.

"No, it's not right." She said through tears. "Something's wrong. It really hurts." Her face crumpled and he put his hand on her back reassuringly.

"Where does it hurt?" Jack asked calmly, and she guided his hand to right above where the babies were positioned.

Kate shook her head again. "Jack, something's wrong." She repeated. "I can't feel my babies."

A/N: Hides behind a large steel wall Please don't hurt me! This is me, remember, I thrive of jate bliss and happy endings. I wouldn't do anything to cause them pain! Not in the long run anyway!


	43. Survivors

CHAPTER 43: SURVIVORS

Within fifteen minutes, Jack had brought Shannon and Sayid to their room to look after the still-sleeping Curtis, and Jack and Kate were on their way to the hospital in the back of an ambulance. Half an hour later, Kate was taken in for observation, and Jack was forced to become the worried fiancée and parent pacing the corridors, waiting for news. Since they had returned, their lives had been thrown into complete turmoil. First Kate was dragged from them, then she returned, then Kaia was taken, and now it seemed like their unborn children were going to be taken from them as well. Was this the price they had to pay for rescue? If so, he wanted to be returned to the island straight away.

He remembered the terror that they had both felt when Kaia had been born, when she wasn't crying, wasn't breathing, wasn't moving. It was like nothing else he felt, and he was sure that he'd never feel it again, but the past few days, it was all that he'd been able to feel. Even with Kate back where she belonged, his children were in danger, and he was helpless to that feeling, the nagging voice in the back of his head that told him he couldn't fix things this time.

He pressed the balls of his hands into his eyes, wishing that when he opened them again, he wouldn't see the long white corridor which had once felt like home, but that now felt alien to him. Home wasn't here anymore, home was an island, in the middle of no-where. Home is where the heart is, and his heart belonged with Kate. Kate was home. Kate was wild and free, just like the island, nothing slowing her down, nothing preventing her from getting what she wanted, nothing but the natural beauty which the two blended together so well.

Jack didn't know how long he sat there and waited, but Shannon and Claire suddenly were walking up to him. Claire placed a soft hand against his shoulder, and he looked up at them bleakly, his eyes adjusting back to the world after having seen nothing but the inside of his eyelids for over an hour.

"What are you doing here?" He asked them.

"Charlie and Sayid are babysitting." Shannon told him. "We came to see how Kate is."

"You wasted a trip." Jack said sadly, as the two sat down either side of him. "I don't know anything yet. I don't even know if she's Ok, let alone the twins." He rubbed his forehead, trying to think of some way out of this, but failing miserably.

"Twins?" Claire asked quickly.

He looked up at Claire's question, and remembered that neither of them had a chance to spread the news about the twins. "Kate was given a scan two days ago, and it showed two heartbeats." He said, having to smile at the memory, but it was a sad smile because right now, his twins might be fighting for their lives, or have already ended them. He hoped it was the former. Even though he hated the idea of their lives in danger like that, he would rather them be in danger not be there at all. "If they're still there..." He added.

"What happened?" Claire asked softly.

"I woke up and she was in the kitchen, screaming." Jack said, replaying what would become a nightmarish scene for him. "She was holding her stomach, saying that something was wrong, and that she couldn't feel the babies anymore, and she was in pain."

"Things will work out, Jack." Claire assured him. "If you just have faith."

He shook his head a little. He had never really been a firm believer in faith. "My son is confused, my daughter is missing, and the woman I love is waiting to be told whether or not her babies are alive or dead, and then they'll have to tell me as well." He said. "I'm going to need a miracle, not faith."

"Well, Mr Shephard, we might just have the miracle you need."

Jack turned and stood up as a doctor approached them. "How are they?" He asked instantly.

"We've taken your wife up onto a ward; she's resting at the moment. It seems she hasn't had a decent night's sleep in a while, so she fell asleep within the last hour." He revealed.

Jack let out a small sigh. "Things have been a bit crazy at the moment." He said. "Our…our daughter's missing." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," The doctor said, "But your fiancée really needs to be taking things easy, even though she insists that in herself she's fine."

"And the babies?" He asked.

"She wanted to tell you herself." The doctor said.

Jack nodded numbly, immediately thinking that it was going to be bad news. He, Shannon and Claire followed the doctor up to the ward, and the girls waited outside whilst Jack followed the doctor inside. In the far end of the ward lay Kate in a bed, now wearing a white gown instead of the clothes she had been wearing that morning. As they reached the bedside, he saw that her eyes were closed, a peaceful expression on her face whilst she slept.

He took a seat on the edge of the bed, picking up the hand in his that was lying at her side, lifting it to his lips and kissing her knuckles gently. Her other hand was lain across her stomach, in that protective manner he had seen from her so many times. It was strange how the image in his head that came to mind whenever someone mentioned her name was no longer her dangerously high in the trees, but rather relaxing in the sand, caressing a growing bump on her stomach.

Kate didn't stir from his touch, and he knew that she was getting the much-needed rest that her body needed so badly. He let out a heavy sigh. "Oh, Kate." He whispered. "How did we come to this?"

The doctor was standing at the edge of the bed, checking the notes that had been written, and then he replaced them in the folder, telling Jack that a doctor would be around every now and again to check on her. He nodded, but didn't say anything, sitting tight in his space at her side.

Around half an hour later, Kate started to stir. Jack, who had been tracing small circles on the inside of her hand, watching her peaceful face and the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, immediately snapped back to reality.

"Kate?" He asked quietly, his hand coming to her cheek as her eyes fluttered gently. She heard his voice, and looked up at him tiredly.

"Hey." She said softly.

"You okay?" He asked her with that look of concern she had grown so used to.

She looked away for a moment, and then looked back at him. "I'm sorry, Jack." She said with tears in her eyes. "You were right, I should have taken better care of myself." She said sadly.

He shook his head, moving closer to her as she sat up. Now that he was level with her, he combed back her hair behind her ears with his fingers. Tears started to form in Jack's eyes. "Kate, it wasn't your fault." He told her. "What happened-"

"-happened because I wasn't taking care of myself." She finished his sentence, and they locked eyes. "I know that now, and I'm going to fix it." Jack's eyebrows creased together at this. Fix it? How could she fix it? Unless...

"Kate…" He said, with a curious smile.

"We're going to be Okay, Jack." She said with a grin. "They're still alive."

Jack had her in his arms so quickly that Kate couldn't remember him embracing her. All the pressure that had built up that morning suddenly disappeared as the knowledge of their twins being alive filled his mind. They held each other so tightly, as all the worries of the day eased into nothing, and Jack fought back the happy tears that came to him.

"Jesus, Kate, you had me scared for a minute there." He told her as he pulled back to look at her face.

"Just make sure I listen to you from now on when you tell me to look after myself." She said to him.

"I guess we've both been a little distracted lately..." He mused with a nod. "Things are going to be alright though." He told her. "We're survivors, and it's going to stay that way." He smiled again, laughing to himself and placed his hand over her stomach, speaking to it. "Glad you're still here, guys." He said softly in that special talk for children. "You had us worried for a while."

"Like you said, Jack - survivors."

"Don't I know it." He said with a gentle laugh..

Kate nodded, agreeing with him. "Where's Curtis?" She asked.

"He's with Sayid and Charlie back at the hotel." Jack said, "Shannon and Claire are outside."

"Not anymore." Kate said, nodding over to where Claire and Shannon were approaching Kate's bedside. But they weren't alone. Either side of them walked Evans and Colson, Jack stood up as they approached, greeting Evans with a handshake.

"Sorry to catch you in a private moment, Mr Shephard," Evans stated. "Everything is Ok, I hope?"

"It's Ok." Jack said, with a smile to Kate. "It was just a scare." Kate smiled back at him, and Claire and Shannon went over to hug Kate.

"I'm glad to hear that. However, I need you to accompany us someplace else." He said, and Kate frowned.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Preferably we would have both of you come, but in the interest of Ms Austen's health we believe it will be best that you accompany us." He said to Jack.

"What's going on? Jack asked, repeating Kate's question.

"Something bad's happened, hasn't it?" Kate assumed, bringing her hands up to her face. "Oh god, no."

"On the contrary." Colson said. "We've found your daughter."

"You've found her?" Kate asked, grinning, happy tears spilling over her face. "Is she Ok? Where is she?"

"We've located her somewhere with Ms Harrington, as we saw on the CCTV." Evans told them.

"Oh, thank God." Kate sighed.

"She's Ok, though, right?" Jack asked. "Sarah hasn't hurt her?"

"Not as far as we can tell."

"What are we waiting for, let's go." Jack said, kissing Kate.

"Mr Shephard, you should know that this is going to require some persuasion on your part."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain on the way over there, but to put it simply, Ms Harrington refuses to speak to anyone besides you."

"I don't care, as long as I get my daughter back." He said, and then turned to Kate. "Don't worry; I'm going to bring her home."

* * *

A/N: Yay! Kaia's coming home and the twins are fine! Lowers shield Maybe no one will want to kill me anymore! 


	44. Daddy's Little Angel

CHAPTER 44: DADDY'S LITTLE ANGEL

Twenty minutes later, Jack found himself in the downtown area, the road of the street blocked off at either end, staring up at the top of an apartment building. The police handed him some binoculars, which he looked up at the top of the building with, where the rest of them where. He had first expected Kaia to be with Sarah inside the apartment building, but clearly this was different, because they had blown up a large inflatable that he had seen on television before. Skimming along the rooftop, he came to rest upon the image of Sarah holding Kaia in her arms, sitting with their legs dangling off the edge of the building.

"Holy shit." Jack muttered breathlessly, and then he turned to Evans. "Get me up there now." He said determinedly and he followed Evans and Colson up through to the roof access of the building.

Once up there, they remained back by the doorway, with some other officers and negotiators, but Jack continued on to the edge of the building. Cautiously, he sat down beside her, forgetting how high up they were and looked at the pair. Kaia was gazing downwards, having not even noticed that he was there, and Jack noticed the fear in her eyes. Even though she was always up in the trees, she hated large heights. He remembered a time where she had disappeared, and Jack had found her shivering with fear near the edge of a cliff, too scared to move in case she fell. It was the same look in her eyes now.

"Sarah?" He said softly, but she didn't answer. "Sarah, talk to me." He said. Still she said nothing. "Kaia?"

At the sound of her name, Kaia turned her head, and Jack brought out a hand, stroking her hair softly. "Daddy," She said gently.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Wanna go home now, Daddy." She told him. "Wanna go home to you and Mommy."

He nodded. "I know, baby, we'll go see Mommy." He said to her, but she didn't smile at all. "Don't be scared, sweetheart. I'm here now; everything's going to be fine."

"Up high." She said simply. "Want to get down."

Jack understood, and nodded. "Close your eyes, honey." He told her. "Close your eyes, and count to five. Can you do that?"

Kaia nodded, and closed her eyes, starting to count like Jack had taught her. Jack turned back to Sarah, seeing her far off expression.

"Sarah. Talk to me."

"I'll only talk to him." She said in a forced voice.

"It's me. I'm here." He told her. She turned her head and looked at him, seeing for herself that Jack was there. "What are you doing, Sarah?" He asked her.

"Everything's as it should be now." She said.

"No it's not." He told her.

"We were trying for a child, Jack." She told him.

"That was thirteen years ago, Sarah. A long time ago. You left, and we both moved on." He reminded her. "I met Kate, and I've got Kaia and Curtis now."

"We can still try." She said. "We can still be together."

He shook his head. "No, Sarah, we can't." She turned her head back out to what was below them. The movement panicked Kaia, who still had her eyes closed, as she fidgeted, Sarah held her tighter to still her, but Jack's heart leapt into his throat as he thought for a terrifying moment that if either one of them fell, Kaia would still be taken to the ground. "Sarah, please, just give her to me." He said desperately, losing the calm he had managed to keep before. He reached out for her.

"Don't touch me." She said bitterly.

"Don't do this." Jack pleaded. "Don't hurt her."

"You caused this, Jack." She told him. "You're responsible."

He shook his head. "No one's to blame, Sarah."

She looked at the many police officers down on the ground. "Are they going to arrest me?" She asked.

Jack swallowed, of course they were. "No." He lied.

"Liar."

"Sarah, please…" He said, almost afraid that the softness of his voice had been carried away on the wind. "…if you let her go, they won't do anything to you." He tried to reason. "Just please, give me my daughter."

"I'm not letting my little girl go." Sarah said, tears streaking down her face as Kaia let out a whimper between the numbers three and four as she counted.

"She's not your little girl, Sarah." Jack reminded her. "Look at her, she's my daughter, but she isn't yours, she's Kate's." Sarah said nothing, and Jack continued. "Kate carried her for nine months, she went through a hell of a lot to have this child, and she loves her more than she loves her own life. When she was born, she wasn't crying. She wasn't breathing. I was so scared, Sarah." He admitted, tears forming in his eyes. "Kate was scared too, and she was crying, and I wanted to cry, holding my baby in my arms, but I couldn't, because her life was counting on me. I got her to start breathing again, and she started to cry, and I'd never been so relieved in my entire life. From the minute she was born, she was counting on me to help her, to protect her, to be her father. Then you took her away, and I couldn't do any of that." Sarah let out a sob. "Please, Sarah, being a father is everything that I live for. I need her, and Kate needs her. Let me have my daughter. Don't do this."

Sarah looked at him for the first time, and he could see how much pain she was in, but he didn't care. All he cared about was Kaia. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jack."

"It's all right," He said, "Just give her to me."

"I can't." She said quietly.

"Yes you can, just hand her over." He said.

"No, Jack." She said. "I have to do this."

It was then he realised that Sarah was slowly leaning forwards. As the uttermost fear took him over, panic setting him into automatic response, he lunged forward to grasp Kaia before Sarah could make her attempt to jump and take Kaia with her.

There was a struggle, screams, and then…it was too late.

A/N: Gotcha


	45. Brighter Days

CHAPTER 45: BRIGHTER DAYS

**A/N: I don't own the song at the end of this chapter, that belongs to Ronan Keating, and it's called Brighter Days, I just thought that it was so amazingly Jate. It's only a short chapter, but I figured that after the climaxes at the end of the last few chapters - I more than owed you this time. So here's a chapter to apologize to the Shephard family for all that I've put them through recently. I can't promise them that they won't have a few more bumps in the journey, but they will be getting some VERY good news soon. As usual, thanks to all my lovely reviewers. Without you, I'd jump from a top of a building, but instead, I continue this story because people like it. And to think I was going to end this story with Kate turning back into an adult again…ha! That wouldn't have kept me occupied for all this time.**

**So, what do you all think…a big happy ending…or a sequel to this story? Because one way or another, this has to end soon….**

Kate sat in the hospital bed, chewing on the skin around her nail. Jack had been gone for two hours already. Shortly after he left, Sawyer, Charlie and Sayid had turned up, bringing Curtis and Aaron along with them. The doctors hadn't approved of so many visitors, but when the last remaining patient in the ward checked out, there was no one to complain, so they allowed them to stay. After half an hour, Kate had grown restless, and began walking around the ward, pacing, until the doctors came over and reminded her that she was in a fragile state and needed to rest. Halfway through her rant about being worried about her daughter and accusing the doctors of not knowing a thing about how she felt, Sawyer came over and lifted her up, physically placing her back in the bed.

She now sat cross-legged, staring at the clock with a frown on her face.

"Where are they?" She asked.

Claire looked up from where Aaron and Curtis were reading books at the end of the bed. Well, Aaron was reading, but Curtis was just looking over his shoulder at the pictures while Aaron sounded the words out to himself quietly. "I'm sure they're on their way, honey." She said with a smile.

"You said that an hour ago." Kate protested.

"And I meant it then as well." Claire nodded.

"Something's wrong." Kate shook her head. "They should be here by now."

"Kate." Charlie said strongly, she turned and looked at him, as he gave her a confident look. "He's coming."

"But they said that he needed to convince her." She reasoned. "What if it didn't work? What if she hurt Kaia? Oh my god, what if she-?"

"Freckles, if you so much as think that I'm going to cart you off to the nutty ward." Sawyer told her tiredly. "Now, for once, believe us. You really think that Hero's going to let something happen to that kid? No, of course he's not. Why? Because he loves that kid more than anything, and he loves you, and he knows that it would probably destroy you if anything happened to her, so he wouldn't let a thing in the world touch her because he loved you so much. Now, stop worrying, and relax, because that kid's going to walk through the door with nothing, not even a scratch, on her."

Sawyer's little speech caused Kate to eye him curiously until finally, after a while, she made some kind of movement by raising an eyebrow.

"Sawyer, have you taken something?" She asked him.

"No." He said, pretending to be disgusted.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Because you just acknowledged that Jack loves me, and that's the first time I've heard you say that in the past ten years." She said.

Sawyer gave her a smile. "Well, you weren't around for a few days." He said, "You missed it all."

Kate gave him a smile in return. "Thanks, Sawyer." She said.

"Hell, someone needed to say it, and you couldn't exactly say it to each other at the time." He looked a bit embarrassed. "Now can we get off of the soppy talk you're making me want to hurl."

Kate smiled at Claire and Shannon, who knew otherwise that Sawyer was revealing the side of him that actually cared for people. Kate was about to say something when the door of the ward opened.

Looking over, she saw Jack standing in the doorway. "Jack!" She cried excitedly and she started to get off the bed when the sullen look on his face stopped her. She frowned - something was wrong.

She made her way to the end of the bed, leaning on it for support. She met his eyes, and that one look stopped her dead in her tracks. Her heart thumped wildly, and everything seemed to slow down.

Something had happened.

There was no other explanation.

She looked at Jack again, and then he avoided her eyes. Stepping back a bit, he held the door open, to let someone else in first, and she expected the two cops she had grown so used to seeing around to walk in, but they didn't. Instead, Jack remained there, and eventually, a little head poked around the corner. A particular head with lots of bushy brown hair.

Kaia.

"KAIA!" Kate almost screamed, and the girl caught sight of her mother, grinning, and running at bolt speed towards her.

Kate fell on her knees, and as Kaia came close to her, they both reached out at the same time, and for the first time in days, Kate was able to scoop up her daughter, holding her tightly in her arms. Jack come over, getting on the ground with them, putting his arms around them both, and Curtis joined them afterwards, jumping on Jack's back. Finally they were together again.

As they held each other, for only God knows how long, Jack was vaguely aware of a song on the radio somewhere in the room. He embraces his family, and listened as the words flooded over him, if anything spurring him on to hold them tighter to him.

_I've done a lot of living in my life_

_Chased my share of rainbows in the sky_

_Before I stopped and asked the question why_

_I've fallen out of love too many times_

_But not I see the possibilities of how my life could be_

_From any other love, I'd walk away_

_Love is temporary, I would say_

_Now each night I find a reason to stay_

_With you there's always brighter days_

_I've broken a heart, a heart or two_

_I've let the curtain fall, I guess it's true_

_The thought of something borrowed, something blue_

_Was something that I could never pursue._

_But now you're here, my doubt has disappeared_

_The clouds are gone, it's clear_

_From any other love, I'd walk away_

_Love is temporary, I would say_

_Now each night I find a reason to stay_

_With you there's always brighter days_

_Even on the coolest nights,_

_Even when the sun won't shine_

_It's sweeter in the morning time_

_Just knowing that you're there_

_From any other love, I'd walk away_

_Love is temporary, I would say_

_Now each night I find a reason to stay_

_With you there's always brighter days_

_From any other love, I'd walk away_

_Love is temporary, I would say_

_Now each night I find a reason to stay_

_With you there's always brighter days_


	46. Growing Up

**CHAPTER 46: Growing Up**

Throughout the afternoon, Kaia slept beside her mother on the hospital bed, mainly because she hadn't been able to sleep much recently. Within twenty minutes of being there, she was fast asleep, staying awake just long enough to tell Kate that she'd missed her, and say hello to Aaron and Curtis. After that, she curled up beside Kate and fell straight asleep. Kate held her, holding her tightly, with that smile on her face that only came from motherhood. A few hours ago, she thought that she had lost three of her children, and now she had all of them back with her, safe and sound.

Jack was explaining what had happened on the rooftop. Kate's face was an image of horror throughout the whole story, especially when he got to the ending.

"She was leaning forwards, and I knew that she was going to jump then." Jack said sadly, stroking his hand down Kaia's hair and back, and the little girl let out a comfortable sigh. "So I grabbed for her, and Sarah struggled. She slipped off the edge, still holding onto Kai, and I don't know how I managed to keep hold of her. I really thought that I was going to drop her, but I knew that if I did, she would have died." He stayed silent for a moment, and then took a deep breath, as Kate put her hand over the top of his. "Then Sarah let go."

Kate looked up from Kaia. "Jack-"

"The paramedics said that she landed on her neck, and because of the operation she had before on her back, she would have been dead before she knew she hit the ground." Jack said, almost sadly.

Kate squeezed his hand gently, and he kissed her cheek. "You okay?" She asked, realising how hard it must have been for him to watch his ex-wife fall to her death.

He nodded, smiling softly. "I'm fine." He said, replacing his hand on Kaia's back. "All that matters is that Kaia's okay."

"I knew you'd keep your promise." Kate smiled, and he looked up at her. "You promised me that you were going to bring Kaia home to us, and you did."

Charlie was the one who broke into the pair's conversation. "Guys, as much as I hate to break up your romantic moment, can we get out of here?" He asked. "I'm starving."

"When can you check out?" Jack asked.

"Doctors said I was good to go about an hour before you got here." She said.

Jack nodded. "I'm guessing there was conditions." He assumed, knowing that they wouldn't have let her out so easily without strict instructions for her health. Kate nodded. "Let's hear them then." Jack told her.

"Take my pre-natal vitamins, not to do anything that's going to stress my body out, eat right…the usual." She said, smiling, but speaking like she was reciting from a book.

"Say, Freckles, aren't you forgetting something?" Sawyer said teasingly.

"No." Kate said, a little too quickly to sound natural.

"Kate…" Jack said.

"'Cause I could have sworn that the doctor confined you to a weeks bed rest." Sawyer continued, looking very pleased with himself.

"I should have guessed." Jack laughed, knowing that Kate would do anything to avoid bed rest, even lie to him about her health.

"I know, but I've got to do it." Kate said, without her typical groan. "There's no way I'm going through this morning another time." She put her hand on her stomach. "Even if that does mean staying in bed for a week."

"Look on the upside, Kate." Shannon said brightly. "Think of all the movies and books you've got to catch up on!"

As much as this did sound inviting to Kate, she knew that she would be restless after two days and be craving any possible movement.

"Guess so." She simply smiled, and then returned her attention to Kaia. "Let's get these little ones home then." She said, in that motherly voice she had adapted over the years.

--------

Back at the hotel, Jack had just come back from telling the other survivors who had been worried sick about Kate and the kids that everything was fine, and that Kaia was home. He arrived to see Kate standing in the doorway of the twin's temporary bedroom, just beside theirs. She was leaning against the doorframe, looking into the room with a sweet smile on her face. Jack went over behind her, placing his hands around her waist as he looked in the same direction at thier sleeping children.

Kaia was curled up on her side, how she always slept, with the blanket wrapped around her, curled in her little fist. Her head was leaned forward, and in her fetal position she looked comfortable and safe, exactly how they always wanted her to be. Curtis, in the other bed, was lying with his arms wrapped around that rabbit teddy that he had brought on the boat. Both were wearing thost matching pyjamas, Kaia's in pink, and Curtis's in blue.

Kate spoke softly after a few minutes. "They're growing up." She stated.

Jack nodded. "Don't worry, they're not going anywhere just yet." He said with a soft laugh. "We've still got more than ten years before they head off to college and move out. Almost twenty with Curtis."

Kate let out a small laugh as well. "You know what, I'm glad that the first years of their lives where on the island." She mused. "Danger aside, there was never anything to keep us from seeing every second of it. We never missed out because of work and other things, because all that mattered was keeping them safe."

"It can still be like that." Jack told her. "Remember, I'm not going to be a workaholic anymore."

"Good, because after ten years of seeing you for most of the day I think I'd go mad without you." She smiled.

"Besides, do you really think that I'm going to leave you at home alone with Kaia, Curtis and the twins?" He asked incredulously. "You'd get all the fun without me!"

She laughed, and turned in his arms, putting her around his shoulders. She kissed him, allowing him entrance to her mouth after a few seconds, and he obliged, making her dizzy within minutes. When they parted, she leaned her forehead against his. "God I love you," She smiled at him.

"That's what I like to hear." Jack grinned, and lifted her easily into his arms.

She laughed loudly. "Jack! What are you doing!" She asked through giggles as he carried her through to their bedroom.

"Well, my lovely lady needs her bed rest, and I'm more than happy to give her a week load of reasons to stay in bed." He revealed, as he lay her down on the bed.

He sat down beside her, leaning down to kiss her again. "So much for resting." Kate said, feigning disappointment, but failing because she was smiling so much.

"Are you complaining?" Jack asked.

"No." She grinned, pulling him down by his collar.

"Good, because it's been a week, and I miss you too damn much." He said, as he discarded any worry out of his mind and focused entirely on the woman he loved.


	47. All In The Family

**CHAPTER 47: All In The Family**

Kate awoke the following morning sprawled across Jack's chest. She knew that he was already awake because she could feel him playing with her hair, curling the ends in his fingers as he always did. He did it to Kaia's hair as well, because it was so much like hers. She wondered how much he had done it when she was away, and he knew for himself that he had done it whenever he had his little girl close to him. After all, she and Curtis had been his rock when Kate wasn't there, just as Kate and Curtis had been his rock when Kaia wasn't there.

She lay there comfortably, warm and safe, knowing that her children were sleeping safely in the next room. Finally, after a long and exhausting week, their family was conforming back to some kind of normality. She smiled at that thought, wondering when she had come to think of their life as being normal.

"Morning." Jack told her softly, placing a kiss on top of her head.

"Hey." She said, lifting her face and kissing him properly.

"Sleep well?" He asked casually, and she grinned cheekily.

"Well, you did give me a very good reason to sleep well." She reminded him, and they both laughed, kissing again. "I love you, Jack." She told him with a smile.

"I love you too." He replied. "More than anything in the world."

She smiled, and settled back on his chest. "What time is it?" She asked, not wanting to move her head from his chest again. She liked the familiar sound of his heartbeat.

Jack looked over his shoulder at the clock on the bedside table. "A little after 8." He told her.

"Kids awake?" She asked.

"Haven't heard anything from them." He told her.

"Kaia probably needs the sleep." Kate realised.

"We'll let her sleep as long as she wants." He nodded. "If she wakes up too late and won't sleep tonight we'll take her down to the jungle gym and tire her out." Kate gave a soft laugh.

"I'm glad that she's back." She said quietly. "I don't know what I would have done if she..." Kate trailed off, unable to think about the possibility, let alone say it.

"Hey, don't even think about that sort of thing." Jack told her in a soft, yet firm voice, trailing his hand up and down her bare back. "She's fine, and nothing's going to change that. Don't think about what might have happened." He said, and she nodded. "She's safe now."

"I wonder what happened when she was with Sarah." Kate said quietly, tracing circles on Jack's chest. "What do you think Sarah wanted to do with her?"

Jack sighed, remembering what Sarah had said to her about being a mother on the roof. "She wanted Kaia to be our daughter." He revealed, and Kate looked up at him. "Mine and hers." He saw the heartbroken look in Kate's eyes of someone wanting her daughter as their own. "But I told her that it could never happen." He assured her. "We created her, you carried her and gave birth to her and raised her. You're the only person in the world that I'd ever let Kaia call her mother." He said, and Kate smiled, cuddling up to him again.

"I bet she was scared, being up high." Kate realised.

"Terrified." Jack nodded.

"It's like a huge weight has gone." She said, "knowing that she's just in the next room."

"I'll say." He said with a soft laugh, one of relief. "For once I haven't woken up with that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that one of my family's in harms reach."

"We're all fine now." Kate smiled.

"All six of us." He nodded. "Six...wow...I'm still getting used to that number." He admitted.

"You're getting used to it?" Kate asked incredulously. "You're not going to have to carry them. I thought it was hard at the end of the other two pregnancies...this is a whole new ball game." She reminded him.

"Well, it will be shorter, if that's any help." He reasoned. "Twins are rarely full term pregnancies."

"As long as they're healthy, I don't mind when they come." She backtracked with a smile. "If I had it my way I'd be able to hold them in my arms tomorrow."

"If you had it your way you'd be able to give birth painlessly." He laughed.

"Ah, my first birth with pain relief." She mused dreamily, and Jack laughed. "I don't know what you're laughing at, mister, you're going to be there too."

"Of course I am." He told her, as if he couldn't bare to think of the alternative. "I was there for Kai and Curt's births. I'm not missing these two come into the world as well." He said, placing his hand over her bare stomach.

"At least you won't have to deliver these ones." Kate joked, and Jack laughed again. That was something he was grateful for, at least because it was twins and twin pregnancies were rarely full term. What would he have done in the middle of the jungle with two premature babies, with no proper medical care, and none of the equipment that could be needed to keep them alive?

"MOM! DAD!"

They both heard Kaia's call, and scrambled out of bed quickly, grabbing bath robes on their way to cover themselves. Going into the next room, they saw Kaia sitting up in bed, Curtis now awake in the bed on the other side of the room, and Kaia was looking panicky.

"Kaia, baby, what's wrong?" Kate asked as she went to sit on the bed beside her, and Jack kneeled at their side.

"Where am I?" She asked, in a frightened voice.

Jack remembered that she hadn't actually spent a night sleeping in the hotel yet, as Sarah had taken her the night of the party. Kaia had fallen asleep in the hospital yesterday, and not woken up when they brought her back, and put her in the bed.

"You're at the hotel, honey." Jack told her, putting his hand on her back. "Remember the hotel?"

She nodded. "Not at the hop-sickle?" She asked, and Kate frowned, before realising that she meant 'hospital'.

"No, baby, not at the hospital." Kate told her with a gentle smile, smoothing her wild curly hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in days - and it probably hadn't. Kate realised now that there was dirt on her face as well, and was clearly in need of a good bath.

"Mommy better now then?" She asked.

Kate nodded, "Yeah, I'm better now." She smiled.

"Daddy said that you were with the doctors 'cause you were poorly." Kaia told Kate, and Kate nodded.

"I was. But they made me better."

"Am I still going to have brothers or sisters?" She asked hopefully.

Kate grinned at Jack, and then back at Kaia. "Yeah, you are." She said.

Kaia thought this over and then looked at Jack. "Daddy, can I have sisters? 'Cause I've already got one brother."

They laughed, and Curtis came over to sit beside Jack silently, who lifted him onto the bed beside Kaia and put his arms around his son while he fell back against him, still slightly tired. "Kaia, you don't get to choose what you have." Jack told her. "We won't find out for a long time yet."

"But Daaaaaadddddddyyyy." She said, looking up at him with wide eyes. "You said that I could have whatever I wanted.

Kate laughed, and Jack shook his head lightly. Ever since Kaia had been born she had Jack wrapped around her little finger. "That was when we were shopping, not talking about babies."

Kaia nodded, and then thought for a moment again. Jack had come to almost fear that expression on her face. Whenever she got it, she always asked an awkward question, one that either had no answer, where she always caught him out, or had an answer that he had no intention of telling her when she was five years old. "Daddy, you're a doctor too, aren't you?" Kaia checked, and Jack nodded. "Does that mean you know where babies come from? How did babies get inside Mommy's tummy? Did she swallow them?"

Kate laughed again, and looked at Jack expectantly. "Yes, Daddy," She said, putting on a high pitched voice to match Kaia's, "Where do babies come from?"

Jack gave her a mock glare, and then clapped his hands together in front of Curtis, who copied him. "Right, who wants breakfast?" He asked, changing the subject.

* * *

As they sat in the kitchen, eating breakfast, no one would have guessed that yesterday, Kaia had been suspended from a rooftop, and Kate had been in hospital hoping that her children were alive. It was like nothing had happened, like they had been rescued that morning, and were enjoying their first day back in civilisation together. Jack had phoned room service, which was still being paid courtesy of Oceanic, and ordered a huge stack of pancakes for them.

To try and distract Kaia further from the topic of where babies came from, he cut their pancakes into shapes while they waited. He made Kaia's and Curtis's into different animal shapes, well, the best he could anyway, yet left Kate's uncut.

When he set down her plate, she feigned a hurt look. "No animal shapes for me?" She asked in a cute voice.

"Don't need them. Yours are more special." He told her with a smile.

"How so?" She asked as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Because I was going to cut them into hearts, but hearts can be broken." He traced a finger around the outside of the pancake, the circle shape. "Circles are much better. They go round and round, never changing, never ending, and never breaking…they're complete, and no matter how long it's there for, it isn't going to end." He ended with a kiss on her cheek. "Just like my love for you."

She smiled, and couldn't deny that it brought tears to her eyes from the sweetness. She gave him that soft grin as he sat down across from her at the table. Damn hormones, she thought, trying to blame the presence of tears on them, but knowing that the only reason they were there was because Jack was able to proclaim his love to her every day in a new way, never letting her feel worthless, or making her regret their relationship for a second.

After a few minutes of hungry eating and random talking between the family, Kate leaned over and pulled a twig out of Kaia's hair. How had a twig gotten there? This was what she was used to doing on the island, not the concrete jungle of Sydney.

"You need a bath." Kate announced.

Kaia's eyes filled with panic, and she looked at Kate with wide eyes, dropping the remainder of her pancake. "NO!" She protested. "No! I'm clean!"

Only, with a face that looked more tanned than usual with the amount of dirt, and the wild tangled hair, she most certainly wasn't clean. Yet Kaia would have rolled around in the mud and still announced herself as clean, and had done so on several occasions.

"No, you need a bath." Kate objected.

"Please, Mom, please." Kaia begged. "Don't make me have a bath!"

"Kaia, you're filthy." Kate pointed out. "You're having a bath." Kaia rolled her eyes and looked to Jack for help.

"No way, kiddo, Mom's word is final on this one." He told her, and Kaia groaned. "When you've had a bath, we'll do something fun."

"Something really fun?" She asked, slightly curious.

"Really really fun." Jack promised.

Won over, Kaia nodded and picked up her pancake again. "Okay, I'll have a bath."

Kate and Jack both pointed at each other simultaneously over Kaia's head, which she didn't see. With Kaia's bath times, it was like this all the time. Whoever was last the point, had to bathe Kaia. This time, however, they both got there at the same time. Silently, they started the battle over who would bathe her. Kate fluttered her eyelashes. Jack pulled out the guilt-trip face. Kate raised her eyebrow. Jack pouted. Kate pouted. Jack pleaded. Kate pouted again. Jack surrendered.

"Okay, I'll do it." Jack told her and raised his hands in defence. "But you can do tomorrow."

Kate sighed dramatically. "Sorry, Jack, no can do." She said with a grin. "I seem to remember being confined to bed rest not bath duty." She smiled sweetly. "I love you."

Jack attempted to run his fingers through Kaia's hair, getting them stuck in the knots about two inches down from the roots. "Yeah…love you too." He muttered, wondering what sort of a mess he had gotten himself into by surrendering.

* * *

An hour later, a clean Kaia emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a warm, soft towel that covered her nearly from head to toe. Kate looked up from the couch where she had been playing with Curtis and his toy animals, and saw the smug look on her daughters face, and wondered what on earth had happened in the bathroom. Her curiosity was answered within a few seconds as Kaia padded into the bedroom where her clothes were, and Jack came out of the bathroom, drenched from head to toe in bathwater.

Both Kate and Curtis watched them silently, and as soon as the father and daughter got into the bedroom, the mother and son collapsed in laughter.


	48. Gossip

**Chapter 48: Gossip**

"Jack, please don't make me do this." She begged desperately, tugging on the bottom of his t-shirt.

"Kate, you promised them." Jack pointed out, and she groaned loudly as he removed her hands from around the hem of his t-shirt and kissed them. "It'll be great, you'll have fun."

It sounded like he was trying to convince a young child to go to their first sleepover or birthday party. Kate pouted. "Famous last words."

Jack laughed. It was day three of bed rest for Kate, and already she was bored stiff. She had been through three novels and six movies already, and because she wasn't allowed to do anything that used up her steadily building energy, she found it almost impossible to sleep all night, which meant that the only exercise she was getting was tossing and turning at night, blinking, and pushing her luck. Three times Jack had found her trying to get up just to "open a window", or "stretch her legs". Yet as soon as he reminded her that this was for the twins health as well as her own, she would allow herself to be marched off back to bed. For Jack, it was like having another child for a week, and having already cared for Kate when she was a child due to their experience on the island, he was well prepared.

"Kate, when Shannon mentioned this you were all for it." Jack reminded her, and she looked up at him from where she was sitting up in the bed.

"That was before I found out what she had planned." Kate revealed. "It's going to be a nightmare, Jack! Torture! There are rules about this kind of treatment! I'm sure that this is some form of punishment!" She blabbered, and Jack laughed, sitting at the edge of the bed beside her.

"Kate, there are no rules about a little pampering." He assured her. "It's not a punishment, it's a relaxation method." He smiled. "This is just Shannon, Claire and Sun's relaxation method."

Kate gave him an unfair look. "I prefer my methods." She muttered under her breath, and started biting her nails, another habit she had picked up for entertainment over the last few days.

"Stop it." Jack scolded playfully, and took up her hands in his own. "Will you relax already? You're blowing this whole thing out of proportion."

"I most definitely am not." Kate said adamantly. "This is my idea of hell. _Hell, _Jack."

He suppressed a laugh again. "Your idea of hell is sitting around with a group of girls, swapping stories about the guys your dating, painting your nails, doing face masks and watching cheesy slushy movies?" He asked incredulously, unable to think that he had actually found the _perfect _woman who hated all of those things.

"And I repeat: HELL." She said clearly, and Jack leaned forward to kiss her.

"I love you." He said through a smile.

"I love you too," Kate said, "But I still refuse to be a good sport about this." She folded her arms over her chest. "I don't see how Kaia gets out of this and I don't…she's a girl too."

Jack shook his head. "Kaia wouldn't sit still long enough."

"Neither would I if I had a choice." She grumbled. "Stupid doctors."

"Hey, I'm a doctor too you know." He reminded, looking hurt.

She placed her hand on his arm and smiled sweetly. "And a wonderful one at that." She said sweetly. "The rest of them are just-"

"You'll get to eat junk food." Jack said, trying to win her round the idea and cutting off the swear word she was about to add onto the end of that sentence. She raised an eyebrow at him, urging him to continue. "Ice cream…potato chips…_chocolate._" He saw the glint in her eyes at the mention of chocolate. "Yes, Kate, lots of chocolate." He assured her slowly.

She shrugged. "I guess I could stand a few hours." She surrendered. "I'd still rather go to the park with you and the kids though." She said with a small, slightly stroppy frown.

"Kate, we've been through this." He said tiredly. "If you come to the park, you'll run around as much as the kids will. The idea of this is to tire the kids out, and you're on orders for bed rest." He recited from their earlier conversation.

Kate sighed. "I know."

"Besides, I don't want to see you in a hospital again until you go into labour." He said determinedly.

"Yes, Daddy." She said mockingly, and he kissed her again.

"Have fun, okay?" He told her.

"If its possible to have fun with mushed up cucumber dried on my face and having to wear make up for no apparent reason twice in a week, I will." She promised him.

"Kate, you know that you don't need all of that stuff." Jack reminded her sweetly. "You look beautiful without it all, this is just to get you to relax a bit more."

She shook her head. "How much more relaxed do you want me to get? I've already been in bed for three days."

"And I'll make it up to you as soon as your week is up." He smiled.

She thought this over for a second, almost contemplating what she could do, and then nodded. "You'd better." She said, holding him to his promise.

"I'd like nothing more." He said, and then Kaia and Curtis came into the room.

"Daddy? Go park now?" Curtis asked impatiently.

Jack and Kate laughed, and Jack nodded. "Okay, say goodbye to Mommy."

The kids came over and leaned over the bed to Kate. Kaia was almost as high as Kate's eyelevel when she was sitting up and Kate frowned at this. "God, you're getting tall." She said with a laugh, and gave her a kiss. "You guys have fun at the park." She told them.

"Bye Mom." They said in unison, and then ran towards the door again. "Come on, Dad!" Kaia called back.

"Okay, I'm coming." He said, and leaned down to give Kate a kiss. As with all their goodbye kisses, it soon deepened, and probably would have deepened even more had it not been for the interrupting call of Kaia again.

"Daddy! Come on!" She urged, and Jack placed one final kiss to Kate's lips before standing up.

"Okay, I'm coming." He told them, and chased them out of the room, then turned back to Kate, leaning against the doorway. "See you later, baby." He said with a smile.

"Bye Jack, go have fun without me." She smiled back, and then turned to the bedside table to pick up a new novel from the pile that Claire and Sun had brought her.

As she heard the door close on their way out, Kate looked at the clock, 10am. Turning the first page in the book, she started counting down the moments until her doom.

* * *

"Kate! We're here!"

Shannon's call through the room interrupted Kate from chapter five of the book that she was getting into. Kate held back the groan she wanted to exhale. She was rather enjoying the book about a struggling actress who had fallen in love with a simple man, who didn't think he was worthy to love her. And now it was going to be interrupted by _them_. Of course, they were her friends, and she loved them for that…but she didn't want to be made to look like a supermodel because it was "relaxing". The next think she knew she'd be reading fashion magazines and going on diets like a teenager, or Shannon, would.

"I'm in here." She called to them, book-marking the page and setting it back on the beside table. She was lying over the covers now, wearing jeans and a t-shirt like she normally did, and when the door of the room burst open, Shannon, Claire, Sun and Libby poured in, piling onto the bed with her. Libby also looked like she was being dragged along, yet she would probably enjoy this more than Kate would.

"Hey!" Shannon said brightly, laying on her front. "How are you feeling?"

"Let's see…bored, restless, bored, bored, bored, restless, bored and bored." Kate rolled off the list, counting them on her fingers.

"Bored much?" Claire laughed.

"Seriously, I would have had more fun watching paint dry…I even tried to have a staring contest with the photographs, but I gave up because I kept loosing, and Kaia didn't really understand the idea of a staring contest." Kate explained, causing the others to laugh.

"Well, we're here to cure that boredom." Shannon announced eagerly.

"Oh goody." Kate said half-heartedly.

"And to start with, we've got a good old chick flick out to get us going."

Halfway through watching Love Actually, Kate realised that she was actually enjoying the film. She hadn't seen it before, unlike the others, who all had, and the relationships in the film that changed from one to the other was starting to remind her of life on the island, with all the different couples and people. They all started to get into the film and start cheering the little boy on when he was running through the airport near the end to get to the girl he loved, and all were laughing when the prime minister was caught snogging his secretary at the school play. And of course, not to mention singing along with the Christmas songs…after all, it was nearly December…

After the film, they all sat swapping stories…just as Jack predicted.

"I went out with this guy called Bryan." Shannon said. "He was such a jerk, he told me that he loved me, and then took of with all of my money."

"Jeeze, what an asshole." Kate said, leaning forward to get another potato chip.

"Yeah, I thought only women did that." Libby mused, causing the others to laugh.

"Depends on whether they actually have money." Claire pointed out. "When I was with Thomas, he didn't have any money."

"Yeah, but that guy was the biggest jerk in the world, Claire." Shannon said. "I mean, Bryan might have took off with my money, but Thomas took off and left his kid behind. How much worse can you get?"

They all agreed with this, and continued to slag Thomas off in the way that only women could.

"Come on, Kate, spill." Shannon tempted, after realising from a ten minute discussion with Sun that the Korean woman had no stories for them.

Kate thought about this. What stories did she have?

"You don't want to hear any of mine." She said, shaking her head.

"Aw c'mon."

"No," Kate said, shaking her head. "None of mine are bitchy or funny like yours."

"Tell us a real tear-jerker then." Claire tempted.

Kate took a deep breath. "It will probably make me teary as well." She warned.

"Yeah, but you're filled to the brim with hormones." Shannon said with a wave. "Now, stop stalling, and make us cry." She smiled.

Well, as they're asking…Kate thought.

"When I was little, I grew up with this guy called Tom." She started. "We were always together, best friends, and as we started to get older, we became more than friends."

"Childhood sweethearts?" Sun asked, already interested.

"Yeah." Kate said with a smile that could only mean one thing.

"He was your first, wasn't he?" Shannon realised.

Kate nodded. "He took me to this place where his parents went for a get-away trip, near the woods, a little cabin." She remembered. "We stayed there all weekend, and it was amazing."

"So what went wrong?" Libby asked.

"We graduated from high school." She said with a shrug. "He went of to New York to become a doctor, and I stayed in Iowa because I couldn't afford college, and there was nothing for me to get a scholarship in."

"So you broke up?"

"We tried to stay together, but long distance didn't work, and he met someone else." Kate revealed.

"He left you?"

"I left him." Kate corrected. "I wanted him to be happy, and whenever he talked about her, I knew that they were going to be happy together. He became a doctor, and moved back to Iowa, with her. Rachel, her name was. They got married up in New York."

"And they didn't invite you to the wedding?" Claire asked, shocked.

"Nope."

"But…you were his best friend!"

"They kept it low key, family only." She explained, remembering the excuse Tom had given her when she had questioned the ring on his finger. "Then, things started to get bad at home, and before I knew it, I was on the run from the law."

They all knew the story didn't end there, simply for the fact that Kate had a far off look in her eye. "When did you see him again?" Shannon asked quietly.

"Two years later." Kate remembered. "I got a letter from a friend, saying that I needed to get home somehow, because my Mom had cancer, and was dying. Even though she was the one who ratted me out I went to see her. Tom helped me. But she screamed when she saw me, she was scared of her own daughter, and so I had to run. By then, the cops were on their way, so I took Tom's car."

Kate went quiet for a moment, and Shannon put her hand over hers, and Kate noticed that all of their eyes were brimming with tears. "Kate?"

"He wouldn't get out of the car." She explained. "The cops were there, and I told him to get out, but he didn't. And he got shot, because of me. A bullet that was aimed for me, and he got it, several times, because of me. He had a wife, a son, and I took him away from that."

Kate had tears of her own now, but she refused to let herself cry. "Kate, that was his choice not to get out of the car. You're not responsible." Sun pointed out.

"It took a long time for me to trust anyone after that." Kate continued. "Everyone that I loved seemed to get hurt, or worse. Mom died. Tom died. They all left. Then…I did find someone." She said, with a soft smile. "I started to trust again, and as much as I tried to deny it, I found that I'd fallen in love harder than I ever had before."

"Jack." They all said simultaneously, and laughed afterwards, including Kate.

"Yeah, Jack." She confirmed.

"What actually happened with you two?" Claire asked. "All I can remember is you two coming out of the jungle all loved up."

"Yeah, good point." Shannon piped up. "How did you get together?"

"Sure you wanna know?" Kate asked.

"YEAH!" They all rounded on her.

"Well, it was like this…"

* * *

A/N: BEWARE: The next chapter is going to be primarily FLASHBACK to how they got together. I was writing this chapter, at loss for how to end it, and then remembered that I never actually explained how Jack and Kate got together in this story. 


	49. Special Aka The Beginning

Everything in this chapter in italics is flashback to how Jack and Kate got together before this story. I was going to post it up as a prequel, but thought that it would be more fun for Kate to tell the story to the girls.  
Angel  
xxx

* * *

**Chapter 49: Special**

_Kate sat on the edge of the shoreline, watching the sunset, as she always did. She loved the colours, and strangely, they represented freedom to her. They showed her that the world was still out there, because someone else could see the same sunset. The water came up around her ankles, and before it reached where she was sat and soaked her jeans, she took shuffles back along the sand. _

_Jack knew that she would be there. He had watched her for the past three days, wondering whether she would turn around and see him, or if she would remain so deep in her own thoughts that she was oblivious to her presence. _

_The first day, he had only seen her for a few minutes as he walked by behind her. She turned at the sound of his footsteps, and saw him walking away, his back turned to her. _

_The second day, he had made his excuses to the people of camp, saying that he was going for a walk, and had returned to the clearing to watch her, almost hoping for a chance to speak to her, yet knowing that he would have some explaining to do if she turned and watched him._

_The third day, he had made up his mind. After two full days of thinking, he knew that something needed to be done before both of them went crazy. He started thinking about what he could do to prove it to her, to show her, that was more than words could describe…mainly because whenever he was around her she left him completely at a loss for words._

_So that day, the fourth day, he stood and watched her, waiting for the perfect opportunity to present himself. However, that problem was soon solved for him, when Vincent appeared behind him, and started barking madly._

"_Shh! No! Vincent! Shh!"_

_But it was too late, Vincent's barking had already brought Kate out of her thoughts and her attention was now focused on Jack as she turned around._

"_Jack?" She asked. "What are you doing out here?"_

_Caught out, he surrendered, and walked over to her, Vincent following him and butting his hand along the way. The dog then ran ahead, going over to Kate excitedly who scratched behind his ears, and he lay down in the sand beside her as Jack sat down on the dog's other side, keeping the space between them._

"_Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you." He said guiltily as he relaxed back on his hands._

"_No problem." Kate said, looking over the ocean. _

"_Enjoying the view?" He asked casually, following her gaze to the beautiful sunset._

"_I love sunsets." She revealed passionately. "Reminds me of freedom."_

_He smirked. "We sure have a lot of that now."_

"_When I was on the run, it was something that felt like home." She revealed, but stopping herself before she revealed too much. She turned to Jack, "You ever have something that made somewhere strange feel like home?"_

"_Yeah," He said, before he could stop himself, yet he managed to prevent himself from revealing that it was her that made the island feel like home._

"_What was it?" She asked._

"_A person." He said simply._

"_Someone you loved." She realised, and he heard a bit of sadness in her voice he guessed._

"_And still do." He said, keeping his eyes trained on the scarlet horizon before him.

* * *

_

"Oh my God!" Shannon cried excitedly. "Was it you?"

"Shannon, let her tell the story."

* * *

_He met her eyes for a moment, and feared that he had just ruined everything, but instead she smiled at him. "What was she like?" She asked._

"_Beautiful." He said immediately. "Intelligent…amazing…fun…good company…caring…" He smiled to himself, and then seemed to retract that former list. "…like no one else I've ever known."_

"_You said you still love her." Kate said, "Does she love you?"_

_If only he knew. It was the question he had come to get answered. "I don't know." He revealed sadly, knowing that they were okay as long as she thought he was talking about someone else. "I hope so."_

_Was that sadness in her eyes? There was definitely something there, and she definitely felt a little pang of pain as he said those words. She had always hoped that perhaps there was something in Jack's heart that felt for her, even if it wasn't what she wanted it to be. However, hearing that he was hoping for the love of another woman was too much to handle, and he spoke so highly of her as well. She must have been an amazing woman to earn his respect to that great an extent. She envied that woman, whoever she was, for the way that Jack seemed to worship her._

"_Did you have a person?" He asked as they lapsed into silence that for once, was uncomfortable between them. Usually their no-words-needed frame of mind was sufficient for them, but today, now, sat before this sunset as they revealed perhaps the deepest contents of their minds, it was different._

"_I liked to think so." Kate said with a gentle smile. "It's nice to think that there's someone you can turn to when things get bad…someone who gives you the feeling that maybe things aren't as bad as they seem." Her voice trailed of quietly towards the end, and Jack noticed that her eyes were closed. "Someone to take care of you." She added in a minute whisper._

_What the hell? Was that Kate asking to be protected by someone?

* * *

_

"Seriously, Kate? Needing to be protected?" Shannon asked her.

"Shannon, let her tell the story."

* * *

"_And here's me thinking that you wanted to take care of yourself." Jack said lightly, smiling as she opened her eyes to look at the ocean and a gentle smile of her own tugged at the corners of her lips._

"_I can take care of myself." She reminded him gently. "But sometimes…even girls like me need people to look after them."_

"_There are no girls like you." He said, shaking his head, and she looked at him with a curious expression. "You're one of a kind, Kate."_

_She smiled gently, and didn't reply for a while until she turned back to the ocean. "That's nice, Jack." She said quietly, still smiling to herself as she watched the waves get closer to them, but not actually touching them._

"_It's true." He nodded. "Think about it, no one on this godforsaken island is half the person you are." He threw his arm backwards, gesturing in the direction of the camp about a mile or two away. She looked at him, meeting his eyes silently. Was this Jack thinking highly of her? Twice as highly as anyone else in the camp? Was she dreaming? "If there was anyone on this place to keep me sane, it would be you."_

_Vincent's head nudged Kate's shoulder, startling her out of her daydreams. Was this really happening?_

"_I second that." She agreed with a smile. "I probably would have disappeared into the jungle and not come back months ago if it hadn't been for you."_

"_I'm glad that you're not running anymore." He smiled, and she nodded._

"_I think I'm too tired to run anymore." She shrugged. _

"_Or maybe there's just more stopping you from running then there is forcing you to run." Jack suggested. _

_Maybe he was right. She certainly had more going for her on this island than when she was running back home. Well, it wasn't really home, more just civilisation - strangely, this island had become home to her now. She was sleeping on an exotic beach, waking up to the sound of the waves, when before she was waking up in the back seat of whatever car she had stolen last, hoping that she wasn't going to raise her head to the window and see a Marshal standing there watching her. She had friends, who trusted her, rather than a family who had betrayed her. Though these friends were swiftly becoming like the family she had always wanted; Claire had already dubbed her 'Aunty Kate' to Aaron. She wasn't held down by anything here, but perhaps the fact that she knew she could run so easily, but didn't have to was what stopped her from it._

_Or maybe it was Jack._

_Jack, who she had stumbled across first on the island, who had begged her to sew up a wound on his back, even though he was a doctor himself. Jack, who was always looking out for other people before himself, who was more determined to save people than anyone she had ever know. Jack, who was brave, and caring, and compassionate, and protective, and everything she had ever wanted to call her own, but couldn't. Jack, who she could talk to about anything, yet couldn't admit to him that she loved him more than anything she had ever known._

_Yeah…it was Jack…without a doubt. She just couldn't bring herself to run from him and leave him behind.

* * *

_

"Wow!"

"Shannon, let her tell the story!"

* * *

"_Yeah," She answered with a gentle nod and a smile. "Yeah, I think you're right."_

_Jack looked behind him, at the clearing he had just appeared from, and then back to Kate. He stood up, watching her gaze return to the ocean, and then back to him as he extended his hand towards her._

"_Come with me." He told her, waiting for her to take his hand. "I want to show you something." He added._

_Hesitantly, she placed her hand in his, and he helped her up from the ground. "Where are we going?" She asked as she steadied herself on her feet, with a little help from Jack, who held her arm. Jack kept his hand on her arm, and moved it to her lower back, leading her away from the shoreline and into the jungle. "You're not going to tell me, are you?" She realised slowly._

"_Nope." He said with a small laugh. "That's the beauty of a surprise."_

"_A surprise, huh?" She asked. "Am I going to like it?"_

"_I hope so." Jack nodded. "Otherwise it's a bit of a waste of a day for me."_

"_A day?" She asked, looking at him, but he kept his eyes trained before him avoiding her eyes purposefully so that he didn't reveal anything.

* * *

_

"He spent a day planning you a surprise? So that's where he disappeared off to!"

"Shannon, seriously, stop talking!"

"What? I'm just saying."

* * *

_They walked for about half an hour, all the while with Jack's hand on her back, making excuses to either watch her step, mind that branch, or to turn a different direction. Somewhere along the journey she wondered whether these were just excuses to keep his hand on her back, right near the hem line of her t-shirt which exposed bare skin. Occasionally his hand brushed the skin and her heart jumped at the touch, but she managed to keep herself composed. _

"_Jack, where are we going?" She asked again after a long silence._

_Jack stopped and looked around him for a moment._

"_Jack?" She asked again._

"_We're here." He said, and she looked around them._

"_Where?"_

"_Here." He said again, and pulled her by the hand into a clearing._

_They were now stood back on the edge of the beach, the foliage of the forest behind them, and the crashing waves of the ocean in front of them. Kate stared around her, noticing the familiarity of the place, with a gentle frown._

"_I know this place." She realised quietly, remembering the secluded area of trees she had run into long ago._

"_It was the place that we first met." Jack confirmed. Of course it was, it was the same secluded part of the beach border that she had sewn up the wound on his back.

* * *

_

"He took you back to the place that you first met? Totally getting together!"

"Shannon, shut up, and let her tell the story!"

"Besides, we know they got together!"

* * *

_Kate smiled. "I thought so." She mused, and let out a sigh as she looked around her again. "It's a beautiful place." She realised. "I guess we never really had a chance to look before."_

"_I have." He nodded, and she raised an eyebrow at him._

"_Come here a lot?" She asked casually._

_Again, he nodded. "Whenever I need to get away to think, I come here. I've been here all day."_

_She cocked her head slightly to one side, and he smiled. He loved it when she did that so innocently. "You have?" _

"_Needed to think." He shrugged. "Had to figure something out."_

"_Oh." She said with a slow nod. "Did you work it out?" He shook his head, and she frowned a little. "Jack?"_

_He looked away from her, staring at the sand between them and focusing on their clasped hands. He took up her other hand as well, holding them both between his own, and it was only then that Kate realised that they were still entwined._

"_I've been here all day." He repeated. "Trying to figure out how to make this absolutely perfect. I didn't want to screw anything up, so I wanted everything to be how it should be. I wanted it to be special." He said, and she could hear the shame in his voice that came from not reaching his goal. "But I couldn't do it."_

"_Why not?" She asked, wondering if there was some way to help him. "What couldn't you do?"_

"_I couldn't make it special." He said, now clearly disappointed in himself._

"_Couldn't make what special?" She asked him, tightening her hold on his hands to reassure him slightly._

"_I'm not a magician, Kate. I can't make things appear out of nowhere." He sighed heavily, looking out to the water, and then finally meeting her gaze. "I can't offer anything special. I haven't got a dozen red roses, I've got no chocolates, and I've certainly got no diamonds. Just…myself."_

_She gave his hands another squeeze, if only to assure herself this time that she was still holding them. "Jack, what are you saying?" She asked him quietly, only just audible over the crashing waves in the sunset that was just fading into a mass of red and navy of the coming night sky._

"_I'm saying that this is all I have to offer." He said determinedly. "If all I have to give is myself and everything that I have within me, then that's what I'm going to give you."_

_Kate replayed that in her head, realising, speechlessly, that he had said 'you'. He was talking to her. He was offering himself to her. "Me?" Was all she was able to say._

_He nodded. "I wanted this to be special." He repeated again. "I wanted to bring you here, and to show you something amazing, something just as beautiful as you are, and make you realise just how special you are to me. But there's nothing here I can give you besides myself, and my heart." He looked at the sunset, but she kept staring at his eyes, admiring the same view he was, but reflected in his chocolate brown eyes instead. "At the end of the day, I'm not the big hero that everyone makes me out to be. I fail, just like everyone else does, and I'm not some kind of super hero. I'm just a man, a normal man." He turned to look at her again, and she gave him a weak smile, which he returned. "Earlier, you said that even you needed someone to take care of you, and I want to be that person, Kate. Even if I'm not the one that makes a place like this seem like I home, I want to be able to take care of you, protect you, build my world around you, and…love you."_

_Feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders by telling her, he let out a sigh and returned his gaze to the ground. At least that way, he wouldn't see her walk away from him. Instead of her disappearing when he felt her hands release his, he felt her hands on his face, and she raised his head so that she could look into his eyes._

"_Jack, you have made this special." She told him softly. "No roses, or diamonds, or chocolates could make this better."_

"_I know it's not much, but it's all I have, Kate." He reminded her. "And I want you to have it all." _

"_You were that person." She said, and he looked at her strangely, wondering what she was talking about. "The person that made an unsafe place feel like home. It was you. It was always you." She revealed, and he smiled a bit._

"_You were my person too." He said, even though she had already realised that by now. "I meant what I said, Kate. I'm not a superhero, but if you want me to, I'm willing to be your hero. Even if I am just a simple man, wondering if the most amazing woman in the world loves me as much as I love her."

* * *

_

"Oh. My. God. Did you kiss him?"

"Shannon!"

"Sorry."

* * *

_Kate leaned forward, answering him easily by placing her lips against his. Immediately, he froze, not quite believing that Kate was really kissing him, but as he relaxed into the kiss, his hands came to rest on her hips, and hers moved from his cheeks to around his neck. After a few moments, Jack moved to deepen the kiss, and she parted her lips, allowing him the access she craved, and his arms wrapped around her waist, bringing her body flush against his._

_As Kate felt Jack's tongue against her own, she let out a gentle moan against his mouth when he found a particularly sensitive spot which made her feel weak at the knees. As he heard her moan, he slipped his hand underneath her shirt, caressing the bare skin of her back. His touch was warm against the gradually chilling air of the night, and she whimpered again against him. _

_When they parted finally for lack of air, breathing heavily with foreheads resting against each other and arms still holding each other tightly, Kate nodded. "I do." She whispered breathlessly, and Jack gave her a smile. "I do love you." She repeated, needing to say those words to both him and herself whilst she was in his arms._

"_I love you too." He whispered back, lips grazing at her ear and causing her to shudder again - this time not from the cold._

_They kissed again, and again, and again, until eventually, Kate's hands came to rest on the buttons off Jack's shirt. At this point, breathing heavily, she stopped._

"_What's the matter?" Jack asked her kindly._

_She gulped and then looked up at him. "Should we really be doing this?" She asked him. "I mean, I want to, but…we're on an island, Jack." She reminded him. "There are more consequences here than there are usually. Just once could change everything."_

_He knew that she was talking about the consequences involving a baby. Having Claire give birth had opened all of their eyes up to relationships with each other, and whilst that hadn't stopped some people, it certainly was always in the back of Kate's mind. He nodded. "I think I might be able to solve that one." He told her, and reached into his back pocket, showing her a small something from inside._

"_Jack, where did you-"_

"_Stole it from Sawyer's stash." He told her before she even finished the question. "There's a few there, he won't miss it."_

_Kate smiled, and reached her hands up to Jack's neck, kissing him again. "So, where were we?" She asked playfully._

_Jack laughed at her quick change of heart. "I think we were about here." He said, his hands going to her back and creeping up the bottom of her shirt, lifting it over her shoulders.

* * *

_

"OH MY GOD!"

"SHANNON! SHUT UP!"

Kate shook her head this time. "No, feel free to go 'oh my god', that's the end of the story." She told them with a laugh.

"What?" They all asked sadly.

"We don't get to hear about the rest of it?" Shannon asked in a distraught voice.

Kate giggled to herself, with a look that suggested she was _very_ pleased with herself. "Nope." She said simply.

"Why not?"

"You wanted to know how we got together, not what happened when we got together." She pointed out, and popped another chocolate into her mouth. "One thing's for sure though," She mused, "It was defiantly special."

* * *

A/N: So how was that for a starting point? Hopefully it didn't suck too much. I just couldn't resist adding Shannon's comments in, because I was copy and pasting snippets into a conversation with EternalConfusion, and they were pretty much her comments on it, so I just had to put them in cause she's great. And yes - the "small something" from Jack's back pocket was a condom. Clearly these ran out/Sawyer caught them stealing after a while, because eventually they had Kaia, and then Curtis, and soon to be the twins.


	50. Sweet Dreams

The ending of this chapter throws in another storyline before this ends...but not as you might think. I was writing this thinking that it might end soon because I'd covered everything but nope...Silly me forgot one of the most important storylines. Sighs Whatever will I do without people to remind me. However, as the ending isn't all that happy, I thought that I'd give some fluffy Jate first :D

* * *

**Chapter 50: Sweet Dreams**

When Jack was finally allowed back into the hotel room with the kids later that day, he was surprised to see not a single spot of mess in the room. He had expected, after hiding out with Charlie, Sayid and Aaron all afternoon, that the room would be filled with food wrappings and beauty products, judging by what Charlie had told him about these "girly thingamajigs". As he was eventually let back into the room, he nearly collided head on with a grinning Shannon.

"Hey. Good day?" He asked casually.

"Brilliant." She grinned. "And Jack, I never knew you could be such a sweetheart." She cooed, patting him on the cheek like a well behaved child as Claire, Sun and Libby came over as well.

"What?" He asked curiously. What had Kate told them exactly?

"What you did was so……..cute!" Claire almost squealed.

"Okay, whatever it was that I did, can we please not use the world 'cute'?" He asked them with a soft laugh. "I'm a man, I have my pride, and we are certainly not 'cute'."

"Whatever you say." Libby shook her head. "I'm surprised you don't have a fan club, Jack. Hundreds, no, millions, of willing women flocking to your doorstep."

"Okay, first off, what have you guys been talking about all day, and second, fan club or no fan club, the only woman who I want to be willing on my doorstep is Kate." He pointed out to them.

The girls all went "aaww" for another time, and Shannon patted him on the shoulder. "That is what we've been talking about all day." She confirmed. "See you later!" She said as she and the others said their goodbyes and left.

"Daddy…why would women be willing on your doorstep?" Kaia asked when the door had closed.

"Because they want autographs, baby." Jack covered up without thinking, definitely not explaining to her what Libby really meant after narrowly avoiding the 'where to babies come from?' talk only a few days ago.

"Oh." Kaia said, and seemed satisfied with this, until another question popped up in her mind whilst Jack was removing Curtis's new coat from his shoulders. "So, you only want Mommy to have your autograph?" She asked.

Given what Jack really meant by this conversation compared to what Kaia meant, he had to let out a small laugh. "Autographs are special things, Kaia." He told her, noticing her struggling to get her arm out of her sleeve, and went over to help her. "And so is your Mommy."

"Okay." She nodded, having got enough explanation, and Curtis tugged on Jack's trouser leg.

"What's up, little man?" He asked his son.

"Watch TV?" He asked in his cute voice that Jack was unable to resist.

"Sure." He said, going to switch the set on whilst the kids crawled onto the couch.

He wondered whether it was normal for his kids to have adapted to the television after only a week, but then decided that if it was making them happy in the new environment he wasn't going to argue. After all, it wasn't like they were becoming zombies from it, they were interacting with each other as they sang along with any songs that came along. They liked to sing, probably an interest they had picked up from Kate singing to them all the time when they were going to sleep.

"You kids stay here for a minute, I'm going to go check on Mommy." He said as he went over to the bedroom.

"Okay." They replied in unison.

Jack smiled and went into the bedroom, peeking his head around the barely-open door to see Kate laying in bed with her eyes closed, a peaceful smile on her face. He knew from the smile that she wasn't asleep, but he crept over to the bed as silently as he could. He stood beside her, smiling softly at the expression on her face. This day had been good for her. The past few days she had been restless and searching desperately for things to do, but now she looked happy and content to sit there feeling relaxed.

"I know you're there." She said, still smiling but without opening her eyes.

Jack laughed gently. "What, are you psychic now?" He teased her. He sat down on the edge of the bed before her, watching as her eyes opened slowly.

"I always know when someone's watching me." She told him. "And I can always tell whether it's you or not."

"How?" He asked.

"Because if it's someone else, they'll stay for a while, being quiet, and then they'll go. When it's you, you'll stay for longer, and you'll be trying to be quiet, but I can hear that little breath you let out when you smile." He did this as she said it, not purposefully though. "Yeah, that one."

He leaned closer to her. "If you didn't look like such an angel when you were asleep, I wouldn't have to smile." Their lips met, and her arms wrapped around his neck as he parted her lips, deepening the kiss. He knew she wouldn't argue to that - she never did.

As they broke apart, Kate sighed sweetly. "I hate it when you do that." She muttered with a laugh.

"Why?" He asked with a smile, knowing exactly what she was going to say because she told him at least three times a week.

"Because it makes me feel like agreeing to anything." She said, finally opening her eyes and resting her forehead against his.

Jack raised and eyebrow and smirked. "Anything, huh?" He asked slyly. She nodded, grinning softly. "A guy could have fun with that." They kissed again, and as Jack's hand rested on her hip, caressing the skin exposed there lightly. He laughed, and pulled away from her lips. "And here's me thinking you were wearing jeans." He smirked.

"I was, I took them off a second ago." She said. "Just before you came in here."

He gave her a strange look. "Why? Because you knew that I'd come in here and want to lock the door straight away?"

She smiled. "Well, you did say that you'd make this worth my while." She reminded him.

Jack went in to kiss her again, but didn't allow the kiss to deepen this time. "Kate, as much as I'd like nothing better than to get the rest of your clothes off and not leave this room until tomorrow morning, you do realise that our kids have the amazing ability to interrupt every single time." He pointed out.

She gave him an evil smirk. "Then it's a good think that I have a plan for that." She nodded, and on cue, there was a knock on the front door. "Go answer the door." She told him, kissing him chastely before he went.

Curiously, he went to the door, wondering what was going on inside that little head of hers, and realising that within a few minutes, he would probably know. As he left the room, Kaia was running over to the door.

"I'll get it!" She called out.

"Kaia, stop." Jack told her, and she turned to him just before she got to the door. "Can you tell me who's on the other side of the door?" He asked her.

"Uh…no." She answered.

Jack smiled but shook his head. "Then you wait for me or Mommy before the door is opened, don't you?" He reminded her and she nodded. They had gone through this new routine that morning when once again, Kaia had opened the door to the hotel staff or a complete stranger. So now they had the understanding with her that unless she could tell them specifically who was at the door, she couldn't open it herself.

Kaia stood by and waited whilst Jack opened the door. "Uncle Sawyer!" She cried as she saw who was standing on the other side. "See, I knew who was there!" She protested to Jack.

"But you couldn't tell me." He pointed out. "What can I do for you, Sawyer?"

"You can give me your kids." He grinned, pointing to a collection of sleeping bags over his shoulders and Aaron standing beside him.

Jack laughed at the sight of Sawyer with children's sleeping bags over his shoulder. "Oh, Sawyer, a slumber party? Were you jealous of the girls having one today and not you?" He teased.

Sawyer smirked. "If they can sit around with their friends and eat junk food then I can sit around with my friends and eat junk food." He said proudly.

"They're kids, Sawyer." He reminded him.

"Heck, I may as well be." He shrugged.

"You got talked into this, didn't you?" Jack realised.

"After being confronted by a lot of women earlier I was told that tonight is Mommy and Daddy's night, so babysitting duty doesn't change because of where we are now." Sawyer revealed. "Even if Mohammed and Sticks aren't Mommy's and Daddy's yet, if they keep at it, they will be soon. Besides…what better reason for me to be childish than to hang around with a bunch of kids?" He grinned.

The prospect of spending a fun night with Sawyer was definitely inviting to the kids, and within five minutes, the kids had been in to see Kate and say goodbye to her before they left, and not long after, Jack leaned against the closed hotel door, and grinned to himself. It was 5pm…Sawyer had told them that he would bring the kids back tomorrow afternoon.

For one second, Jack actually considered calling Sawyer an angel.

"Jack?" Kate called from the bedroom, and he went willingly to the door. Standing in the doorway, he stared at her, and put his hands on his hips.

She was now wearing a t-shirt, one of his button up shirts, and a sweater over the top, and knew from this that he probably had her jeans back on as well. "Is there a reason why you've put more clothes on?" He asked her strangely.

She grinned at him. "Because I know how much you love to take them off." She said innocently.

Jack crossed the room and within seconds, had all of the clothing except their underwear on a pile on the floor. He had to admit that Kate knew all the right ways to tease him, but it never took him long to reverse the situation and bring her to his complete mercy.

* * *

"So…why was Shannon telling me that I was 'cute' yesterday?" He asked, trailing a hand up and down her bare back.

Kate laughed, wide awake in the early morning light. "We were telling stories about our guys." She said innocently. "Like you said we would."

Jack raised a curious eyebrow. "Nothing embarrassing, I hope." He checked.

"I told them a nice one, a really nice one. A special one." She told him.

"What one would that be?" He asked.

"The one about how we got together." She smiled, and he felt her lips curve against his naked chest. "I can't believe that in ten years, no one knew how we got together." She said with a gentle laugh.

"Me neither." He said, kissing her. "Besides, it wasn't 'cute'." He protested.

"No, it wasn't." She agreed, looking up into his eyes. "It was special, just like you wanted it to be." She smiled.

Jack was about to say something when a distant knock at the door interrupted him. Frowning, wondering who could be calling so early, he slipped out of bed, pulling on his boxers and jeans, and went to the door, opening it to see the hotel receptionist there.

"Forgive me, sir, I didn't mean to call so early, but they insisted that I deliver the message immediately." He said awkwardly.

"What message?" He asked.

The receptionish handed over an envelope. "For Ms Austen." He said, even though Jack had read Kate's name on the front of the envelope already.

"Thank you." Jack said and closed the door. He went back into the bedrooom, and handed it to Kate. "Letter for you." He shrugged, and she opened it curiously.

He watched as her face changed from curious, to worried, and then she started to bite her lips with fear. She reached the end of the letter and let out a shaky breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Kate?" He asked her softly.

"What day is it?" She asked quietly.

Jack thought for a moment. "Friday." He answered. "What's wrong?"

She handed him the letter and he read it. "My trial's been moved because of my health." She explained as he read it. "It was meant to be two days ago. It's been moved to Monday…after my bed rest is up." Jack looked up at her, into her scared eyes that begged him to hold her. "I'm going to jail, Jack."

He gathered her into his arms, and she held him tightly. "Kate, I promised you that I was never going to let you go." He reminded her. "That's not going to change now. You're not going to jail. I won't let them take you away from me again."


	51. I Don't Like Mondays

**Chapter 51: I Don't Like Mondays**

Monday morning came, and with it, followed Kate's nerves. Jack had tried to keep her calm through the weekend by keeping her busy. They had taken the children to the zoo on Saturday, and introduced them to all the different animals they had only ever seen in books. On Sunday they had an early breakfast and took them to the beach, spending the day on the sands. It was a good day, one they needed to remind them that even though their home had changed, they didn't need to be truly rid of it.

However, now, the day of Kate's trial had come: the day that she had feared the moment she had caught sight of that dot in the sky that Michael had pointed out to her and Claire on the beach. She stood in the hotel room, dressed in a new suit; black trousers, a white shirt and a black jacket. Jack had already told her that she looked beautiful, but she had responded by telling him that she didn't need to look beautiful when she was walking to her doom.

She held Curtis to her, who she had dressed in blue demin jeans and a a blue t-shirt. He had a sweatshirt on as well, as the weather looked just as miserable as Kate felt, and she didn't want him to be cold. Kaia was dressed the same, matching blue jeans and the same red sweatshirt as her brother, just in a bigger size. With Curtis settled on her hip, and Kaia standing obediently at her side, resting her head on her side, she couldn't help but give in to the fear that pulsed through her.

"Mommy?" Kaia asked quietly, her voice cutting through the silence in the room like a knife.

"Yeah, angel?" She replied, trying not to reveal the quivering in her voice, but it was a useless attempt. Her voice was shaking as much as her hands were.

Curtis touched her hand. "Your hands are all wobbly." He told her, sounding confused.

"That's because Mommy's scared." Kaia told him.

Kate stroked Kaia's hair, and leaned down to give her a kiss. At that moment, Jack came out from the bathroom. He was wearing a suit as well, but had taken off the tie when Kate told him that he looked like he was going to a funeral. He came over to her, and kissed her cheek whilst she looked at him sadly.

"Mommy's scared, Daddy." Kaia said quietly from her place beside them. Jack stroked her hair as Kate had done a moment ago, and nodded, before turning to Kate again.

"I know you're scared." He whispered. "I'm scared too." She leaned her forehead against him, letting out a heavy sigh, and blinking back the tears that appeared in her eyes. "We're going to be okay."

She nodded against him. Curtis looked around the room in confusion. "Is Mommy going away again?" He asked strangely.

Kate couldn't answer that. She couldn't explain a possible prison sentence for murder to a two year old. So she did the only thing that she could do. "Momma loves you, Curtis, you know that?" He nodded. "I love you with all my heart, and I never ever want you to forget that."

"I don't need to forget that, Mommy, 'cause you're going to be here, right?"

Kate raised her eyes from Curtis to look at Jack, and then looked back down at her son. "Curtis, baby, today is a very important day." She told him. "Now, do you remember what we told you about being naughty?"

"Naughty people get punished." He remembered obediently.

Kate nodded. "That's right, sweetheart. You see, a long time ago, Mommy did something naughty, before we lived on the island, and today, some people are going to decide whether or not Mommy gets punished for it."

Curtis understood, and nodded. "But, it won't be for long will it?" He asked her. "Will they just tell you off or take away your toys?"

Kate sighed. If only it were that simple. "I hope it won't be for long." She told him.

"What if it is for long?" He asked her.

"If it is," She started, telling him what she had told Kaia when she toweled her off after her bath that morning. "If Mommy has to go away for a while, I want you to help your sister look after your Daddy, okay?"

"Kaia told me that Daddy won't be sad if we help him. We tided our room and got dressed all by ourselves on the boat." Curtis told her.

Kate gave him a smile. "That's good, honey." She told him. "Because Daddy will tell me that he'll look after himself, but he won't." Jack looked down beside her, knowing that she was right. "I need you to be a big, brave boy, and make sure that Daddy remembers to eat dinner with you, and make sure that he eats it all up."

Curtis nodded. "I'll be a big boy, Mommy." He told her.

Kate passed Curtis to Jack, after giving him a big kiss and a cuddle. Then she went down to Kaia's level on the ground, giving her a cuddle.

"I don't want you to go away again." Kaia complained quietly, playing with Kate's hands in her own. Her fingers fiddled with the new engagement ring on her finger.

"Me neither." Kate agreed. "Do you remember what I told you last time?" Kaia nodded, and Kate stroked her hair, her hand trailing down the side of her face. "Good girl. Kaia, honey, I want you to have something." Kate reached into her pocket, and pulled out a necklace. It was a gold chain with a golden horse pendant on it. "My father gave me this yesterday, and I wanted to give it to you. This necklace belonged to my Mom, and when I was about your age, she gave it to me, so I think now it's your turn to have it. It's very special, so I want you to take good care of it, okay?"

"I will, Mommy." Kaia nodded firmly, and Kate placed the necklace around her neck. "And when I'm a Mommy too, I'll give it to my little girl." Kaia said, causing Kate to smile sadly, not wanting that development to happen whilst she was in prison.

There was a knock at the door, and Kate straighened up. It was Charlie and Claire. So many people wanted to come to the trail, that there was no one to stay behind to watch the children, so they were all going with them. They had been told already that they needed to be on their best behaviour and not shout out.

Things happened so fast. One moment, Kate was standing in the doorway, taking in every detail before her. She watched how Kaia raced down the hall with Aaron, trying to imprint every inch of her in her mind. She watched Curtis holding on to Jack, but most of all, she watched Jack. She stared at the face that had given her so many smiles, so many happy memories. She looked at his hands; hands that had delivered her two children, hands that had roamed every inch of her body. She gazed at his lips, those wonderful lips that had taken her breath away every day she was with him. She didn't want to go to prison and end up forgetting his face.

Next, she was in a car. Sawyer was driving, and they all sat together in the back of the car. Kate finally came to a decision, and spoke out in the silence.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, babe?" He asked her as he turned his head up from where he was watching Curtis staring out the window

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "If something goes wrong today...I want you to keep on." She told him, and he looked at her in confusion. "I want you to go and buy a house, to put the kids in school, but most of all, I want you to give them Christmas." She told him. "They deserve a real Christmas this year, with the tree, the presents, all the traditions. I want them to have that."

He squeezed her hand which he had already been holding. "They will have that." He told her, and kissed her. "So will you."

It was November 23rd. Kate hardly thought that if she got sentenced, she would be home for Christmas, but she nodded all the same.

* * *

When they got to the courthouse, they found that most of the others were already there. Immediately, Kate was led away by the guards, and she said goodbyes to Jack and the children, already getting teared up. She tried not to look at the others, who all gave her the sympathetic looks which begged for her to get off altogether. She was led into a side room, where she was to await her lawyer, and during that time, the others would have all entered the courtroom.

Eventually, the smartly-dressed man she knew to be Ben Leonard, her lawyer, entered the room.

"Kate Austen?" He asked, shaking her hand. She nodded. "Jack was right, you are beautiful." He complimented, and she managed a smile. "Don't worry, I'm going to do everything I can and more to get you back to him. He got me out of a few spots in high school, I more than owe it to him to get his fiancee out of a tight spot."

"Thank you." Was all Kate could say. She was standing beside one of Jack's oldest friends, and whilst she was waiting to be led into a courtroom, all she wanted to do was to stand there and ask Ben questions about Jack. What had he been like in high school? The same as he was now? Was he a rebel? Did he know how he got the tattoos?

Before any of the questions could leave her mouth, they were called into the courtroom. Kate looked around her and gasped. The room was filled with people who knew her.

The front row, behind where she would be sitting, was accomodated by Jack and the kids, her father, Jack's mother, who was keeping the children entertained, Charlie, Claire and Aaron, Shannon and Sayid. Behind them were Sawyer, Ana-Lucia, Michael, Walt, Sun and Jin. Behind them were Hurley, Steve, Faith and Libby. The rows of seats were filled with the survivors of Oceanic 815. It reminded her of how much things had changed since the time when Sawyer had first outed her as a criminal.

As Kate stared at the people supporting her, Ben led her over to where she would be seated, and poured her a glass of water. She would have done so herself, but her hands were shaking. A hand appeared on her shoulder, and she didn't have to turn to see who it was, but she did anyway.

"Jack." She murmered.

"It's going to be okay." He told her. "I love you, forever and for always."

"I love you too." She replied.

"Don't worry, mate," Ben winked at Jack, "Your girl's in good hands."

"All rise for the honourable Judge Wilson." A cop called from the side of the courthouse.

Everyone stood up, only Kaia was rather slow on the uptake, and by the time she had stood up, the judge had also taken his seat and it was time to sit down again.

"We are here today to decide the case of Katherine Austen." He began. "The offences are as follows: Theft, attacking a police officer, resisting police force, breaking and entering, and murder."

That last word sent shivers down her spine. Murder. She was on a murder charge. She was a murderer.

How the hell was she going to get out of this one?

* * *

A/N: Sorry this update has been slow. The next few chapters might be just as slow getting up because I've got a lot going on at the moment, so because I can't write regularly, I'll be writing as and when I can. I'm going to take that opportunity to write the rest of the chapters of this story, and possibly plan a sequel, that way, if I can get a good enough storyline, I can do one. The more I can get written ahead, the quicker I can update later on. 


	52. Shred of Hope

**Thanks for your patience with this one guys! It's actually really hard to write the trial, and there's another chapter of it to go yet, and then the verdict, and then all of the stuff I wrote down in the plot base earlier that I probably won't stick to as usual. In the meantime, however, I have also started plotting the first chapters of the sequal, which will take place 14 years after this story. A long fast-forward I know, but it won't all be focused on the younger characters, like I originally thought, but it will still be a Jate story...mainly through flashbacks. Laura, you know why it's through flashbacks, but you keep your lips shut missy!  
Angel.  
Xxxx

* * *

**

As they all took their seats again, Kate felt her heart hammering in her chest. In fact, the sound of her own heart pulsated so strongly in her head that it was all she could hear, and it continued to speed up to the point where she thought that she might pass out. Brilliant, she thought, the last thing I need now is morning sickness. She swallowed the nervous feeling down, and held her head high, drinking some of the water that Ben had poured for her to try and occupy her hands - maybe that way they would stop shaking.

Judge Wilson spoke about Kate's offences, which she resented her children having to hear, but thankfully, they would not understand what the terms meant. She hoped that they wouldn't ask Jack to explain what they meant. Then, the old man with accusing eyes turned to the lawyer representing the state.

"You may call your first witness." He said simply.

Witnesses. This is where Kate started to worry. It had already been arranged by Ben that her witnesses be her father, Claire, and Sawyer. She had questioned his insistance at Sawyer, but he had assured her not to worry. She did worry, however, as if there was anyone to land her in it unintentionally, it would be Sawyer.

"Thank you, your honour." The man nodded, and stepped forward from his desk. "I'd like to call Rachel Brennon to the stand.

Kate heard her name, and let out a shaky breath as she looked backwards into the stands. A woman with mousy blonde hair and blue eyes revealed herself, leaving a fourteen year old boy in her place in the stands. A fourteen year old boy who looked so terribly familiar that once again she thought she might pass out. She realised then that this teenager was Connor Brennan - Tom's son whom she made fatherless.

She couldn't believe how much he looked like Tom. The hair - the eyes - the face - that nose for definate! She knew that if she had not known that Tom was dead, she could easily have mistaken this young man for her childhood friend.

Rachel walked past her, and gave her a glare for staring at her son, who didn't look up in Kate's direction.In fact, he kept his eyes everywhere in the room except for her, which is when Kate wondered what, exactly, Rachel had told him about her. Probably that she was a cold-blooded murderer who had stolen his father from him. That wasn't true. She might have been a murderer, but she wasn't cold-blooded.

Kate avoided Rachel's eyes, looking straight ahead of her instead, unable to cope with the hatred that stemmed from the woman who had married Tom. Would it ever have been different? If Kate hadn't gone on the run, would she and Rachel have got on well when Tom introduced her? Would Rachel have even gotten together with Tom? Maybe Kate would have stayed and settled down with Tom like they always thought they would. Once upon a time, when she was alone, not sure where she was sleeping, and with no idea what town she would end up in tomorrow, she had wanted that, because Tom was home. Now, she didn't want that, because she had Jack, and her family was home.

Rachel took the stand, and she cleared her throat as she did so. Kate finally looked at her, and saw the hurt in her eyes. Why wouldn't she be hurt? She was having to face her husbands death twelve years after it happened. She wanted to see Tom brought to justice. She wanted to see Kate torn from Jack as she was torn from Tom.

Kate bit her lip, focusing instead on drinking the water again to calm her. Beside her, Ben put a hand over hers, silently assuring her.

"Mrs Brennon..."

"Please, Rachel." She interrupted.

"Rachel," The lawyer, whom they know knew as Marcus, started again. "I understand that it was hard for you to do this today, with the loss of your late husband in your past now." Rachel simply nodded. "Have you ever met with Ms Austen before?"

Rachel looked at Kate, before shaking her head. "No...I've seen photographs."

"Photographs?" Marcus questioned.

"Tom...he had photographs of them both as children, taken before we met." She explained.

"Your husband and Ms Austen were close, I presume?"

"He said that they were best friends." She muttered weakly.

They were more than best friends...they were childhood sweathearts.

Kate couldn't bear to listen as Rachel retold the account of Tom's death. She only want to bury her head in her hands and block her ears as Rachel described her weekend visiting her family in Cita Rapids, only to come home and be told that her husband, and the father of her child, was dead. Shot in a police run-in because he had been in the car with a fugitive - in the car with her.

All those years that Jack had helped her to stop blaming herself for Tom's death were suddenly forgotten, and all of the guilt started to overwhelm her once again. She bit her lip so hard that she nearly drew blood, and fiddled with the engagement ring on her finger to stop her from thinking of the image of her dead best friend in her mind.

"Now, Rachel," Marcus continued, "You had a child with your husband, a son?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes."

"If I may, how old was your son at the time of your husband's death?"

22 months next week...Kate remembered Tom telling her that when she had looked at the photographs on the wall. She had said that Connor was a beautiful baby, and Tom had insisted that he got that from his mother, not from him, however, what Kate had seen in the boy a few minutes ago convinced her otherwise.

"He was 22 months old." Rachel told the lawyer sadly. "Just before his second birthday."

He would have been just six months younger than Curtis was now. Kate felt the need to pour her heart out on the table as she imagined Curtis loosing his father at that age. She wouldn't have been able to cope with out Jack, she wouldn't be able to live. If it hadn't been for Jack, she wouldn't even have her children. If she had lost him, then they would have been taken into care when she was arressted, and she would never see them again. If Jack hadn't been there, she wouldn't have ever seen Kaia again after Sarah had taken her...he wouldn't have caught her, and her beloved daughter would have fallen to her death...

_Stop thinking like that, he's there, he's right behind you, so are the children. They're all there, and nothing's going to take them away._

Kate sat awkwardly through the next lot of questions that were directed at Rachel. How hard was it after Tom's death? Were you aware that he had been contacted by Ms Austen? Had Ms Austen ever tried to contact him before? What, exactly, did she remember Tom saying about Ms Austen? Was it hard when her son questioned where his father was? How long had it been before she was informed of his death?

Eventually, through half an hour of listening to the agony that Rachel had been through because of Kate, she was asked to step down, and Kate would have released a sigh of relief if it hadn't been for the fact that Rachel had started the case off very well against her. It wasn't exactly looking promising from their point of view. Even sat behind her, Jack was starting to worry whether there really would be too much evidence. Kaia shifted in her seat slightly beside him, and he put his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head. Surely these children were enough evidence that Kate was a good person?

"Mr Leonard, do you have anything to say on this matter?" The judge asked, and Ben stood beside Kate.

"Yes, your honour." He said, before stepping infront of the table where Kate sat, leaving her alone with nothing but air beside her. "My client was not responsible for the death of Tom Brennan. There is no evidence to suggest that she was holding him hostage, as Mrs Brennon and her accusation suggests. From what I have come to understand, my client was, indeed, visiting her terminally ill mother in the hospital were Mr Brennan worked. Because of the media attention given to Ms Austen, Mrs Jansen became distressed in her weakened state, and police were called. Ms Austen asked for use of Tom's car, and he allowed it, but refused to get out of the car, even at my client's insistance." Rachel pulled a face at this, hardley believe that Tom refused to leave. "Is it not entirely probable that a man looking out for his childhood friend would want to disuade her from running?"

The judge gave a small nod, and Marcus began to look uncomfortable in his seat. Kate let out a tiny sigh. Ben had managed to convince them that she hadn't been responsible for Tom's death in one tenth of the time that Rachel had convinced them that she was. Jack was right - he was a brilliant lawyer.

"Mr Leonard, your witness please." The judge said, as the jury began scribbling down notes.

"Defence calls Claire Littleton to the stand."

Claire made her way from her seat, and up to the stand, giving Kate a gentle, reassuring smile as she passed her. Ben moved from infront of the table near Kate over to stand before Claire.

"Ms Littleton, Claire, may I?" He checked, and Claire nodded. "Claire, you were on the island with Kate when Oceanic Flight 815 crashed."

"Yes."

"Can you tell us, for the benefit of the court, what state you were in when the plane crashed?" The judge and the jury looked on curiously, wondering how Claire's health would do to help Kate.

"I was eight months pregnant." She told them, and there were murmers quietly before order was restored.

"Judging from the ten years that were spent on that island, I assume that your child was born there?"

"Yes, he was born six weeks after the crash." Claire confirmed.

"There was a doctor on the island, was there not?"

"Yes, Jack Shephard, he was a surgeon."

"But he wasn't the one who delivered your baby, was he?"

Claire shook her head. "No."

"Claire, if you would, could you please describe to the court the circumstances of your child's birth, including the persons present at delivery."

Kate looked up as Ben said that, and understood what he was meaning to do now. Claire wasn't just going to be the supportive friend singing her praises, she was going to tell the court about the night Aaron was born.

"I went into the jungle on my own, because I was scared." Claire began. "Kate found me there, and shouted for help when she knew I was going into labour. Jin arrived, and then Jin went to go and get Jack."

"What happened then?"

"Jin came back with Charlie, who told Kate that she would have to deliver the baby."

"And why wasn't the doctor able to come himself?"

"Because Boone, one of the other survivors, had been seriously injured when h-he fell of a cliff, and Jack was giving him a blood transfusion to save his life."

"If you could tell us one more time who delivered the baby?" Ben insisted.

"Kate did." Claire said.

There were more mumurs around the court, and the judge had to call for order.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury." Ben continued when the noise had died down. "If someone was still caught in their criminal ways, would it cause them to deliver a healthy baby, and take care of a new mother to her best efforts in the middle of a jungle?"

"Does the prosecution have any questions for the witness?" The judge asked, and Marcus nodded.

"Ms Littleton," He began, not taking on the informal manner that he had done with Rachel. "When Ms Austen delivered your baby, were you aware of her criminal background?" He asked.

"No." Claire answered. "It wasn't until after that."

"Surely you were worried to have seen your child around a criminal?"

"I was at first." She admitted. "But Kate isn't a bad person. I trusted her with my baby."

"Is there a reason why you felt you could trust someone wanted for murder with a newborn child?" Marcus questioned.

Claire frowned. "Kate might have been a criminal when she landed, but she wasn't afterwards. She changed. She looked after us all, more than she looked after herself."

Marcus stared Claire down for a moment, and then stepped down, defeated. "Prosecution rests." He mumbled.

"Thank you, Ms Littleton, you can step down." Ben said kindly, helping Claire down from the stand, and pacing back towards Kate in silence.

Kate watched as Claire smiled at her on her way back to her seat, and couldn't help but feel a little bit of hope.


	53. The Worst Misunderstanding

**I know I haven't updated this for a while. Sorry! I wrote this chapter out ages ago, and my computer crashed when it was saving and I lost it all. It's taken me ages to rewrite it, and certain bits that I did I had to take out because I just couldn't write them again. One of these, unfortunately, was Sawyer taking the stand. I had it just how I wanted it before, and couldn't remember any of it, so sorry, but there will just be a brief overview of Sawyer taking the stand. I did change my mind, however, and bring Kate to the stand as the final witness.**

**I'm working on the final chapters at the moment, which is really hard because this is my longest fic ever, and I've loved writing it so much. It seems a shame to end it, but I can't drag it on even more.  
Angel  
Xxx

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Resisting the urge to curl into a ball and cry, Kate simply bit her lip and closed her eyes. 1...2...3...4...5... she had just been forced to relive every bit of her childhood - how Wayne had abused her, had beat her and her mother, and everyone she cared about in the world had been in the room to hear it. Before, only Jack, Claire and Shannon had known, oh, and she guessed the people who had been present when she had revealed it in her time as a child - so Sayid and Charlie as well. Now, all of them knew. She couldn't turn around and face them. Not even Jack. What were they thinking? Were they thinking poorly of her, or worse, did they pity her?

She felt Ben's hand atop of hers, and whilst she would have prefered the comfort of Jack, she let out a gentle sigh to calm herself down. Looking on the upside, things weren't going too badly. Sam had given a rather good testimony, and Sawyer had taken the stand with his usual sarcasm. Kate had been worried for a moment before she realised that Sawyer's sarcasm had transferred against the prosecution, and in actual fact, he was supporting her all the way. He even admitted that it was he who was responsible for the death of the Marshal, who had asked for a form a euthanasia, but Kate had been unable to do it. This had also taken the load from Jack's shoulders.

When the jury heard that Kate had been unable to kill the Marshal, even when he was asking for death, there were undecided murmers. Had she simply wanted him to suffer, or was she a human being after all? When the judge called for order, Kate felt her heart rising when she saw them all nodding with the hint of smiles on their faces.

She gave Sawyer a thankful smile when he stepped down from the bench, and in turn, he nodded at her, as if it were all in a days work for him.

The judge called for a recess of thirty minutes, and the room turned into a scuffle of moving feet as the people around her went to leave the room. Maybe they were feeling as suffocated as she was in that room. She lifted her head, turning over her shoulder to see everyone exiting the room. Still standing behind her, waiting for her to turn before they moved, was Jack. Kaia and Curtis were already going with Margo and Sam, who were talking to them, but the children weren't talking back.

"Jack..." She murmered, standing up herself, finding that her legs felt weak slightly from sitting down for so long. She hadn't realised how much time had passed - the facts about her childhood had taken forty minutes by themselves.

He reacted by leaning over the wall between them, and embracing her, even though the judge was frowning at the contact. She hugged him back furiously, and buried her face against him as hard as she could, blocking out the memories that had resurfaced recently.

"It's okay." He whispered to her, not loosening his hold on her one bit. "Don't worry, sweetheart, it's going really well."

"I know." She muttered against him. "I know, I just...hate having to remember all of that."

Jack nodded, and rubbed her back whilst she recomposed herself, and he whispered the words that she needed to hear - that he loved her, and that he was proud of her.

After another minute or so, she raised her head from his chest and looked up at him. "Are the kids okay?" She asked him.

"Yeah, they're great." He assured her. "They really needed the bathroom so my Mom and your Dad took them."

Kate nodded. "I wish they didn't have to hear all of that." She said.

Jack shook his head, half shrugging. "They didn't understand any of it. Curtis was half-asleep through most of it, and Kaia was playing rock-paper-scissors with Sawyer."

Kate smiled and nodded, then looked at the door. "You should go get some air." She suggested.

"So should you."

She shook her head, insising that she was all right, but he pressed further. "Okay, we'll make a deal. I'll go and take those two", he nodded towards the door, "our for some air, and you take these two," He said, placing his hands on her stomach.

Kate sighed, suddenly feeling the need to get out of the stuffy courtroom, and gave in to him. "Okay."

"We'll take you out the back." Ben piped up, interrupting the two. "That way you won't be harrassed by the Marshals."

Kate agreed, and kissed Jack softly before walking out to the back of the courtroom. He stood and watched her leave, and only once she had gone, and he was left alone in the courtroom, did he turn to go to Kaia and Curtis.

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Once outside, Kate sat down on a brick wall by some steps that led to another courtroom. Ben sat down beside her, and observed her face. She looked pale, frightened even. "You okay?" He asked her.

She took a moment to reply, and then nodded her head. "Yeah...yeah, I'm good." She told him.

They sat in silence for about five minutes, just listening to the sound of the birds around them. Kate let out a sigh, even the sound of nature here was different. These were not the exotic birds that used to fy in the canopies, these were simple sparrows that littered the branches. Even so, the sound was a bit soothing to her.

"Ben, why are you helping me?" She asked him in a whisper after a while.

He looked up at her in surprise. "Because I think you're innocent, of course." He told her.

Kate nodded, but he still watched her curiously. "I did wonder whether maybe you were just doing this to repay Jack for something."

To her surprise, Ben actually laughed. "Kate, don't think like that." He told her lightly. "Sure, I owe Jack a thousand times over for all the times he's helped me, but I definately think that you're innocent."

"Thanks." She said weakly.

"You know, I was at Jack's wedding," He started, as if talking about his wedding to his new fiancee was a completely normal thing to do. "I was there, one of his ushers, watching him say his vows to Sarah," Kate cringed at the mention of Sarah and what she had done. "I heard what she did to your daughter. Must've been terrifying."

Kate nodded. "Yeah...yeah, it really was."

"I know the feeling." He agreed. "My daughter falls over, grazes her knee, and I panic straight away." He laughed gently.

"How old is she?" Kate asked.

"Seven next month." He nodded. "Jack would have been her godfather, but we all thought he was dead." He mused.

"He's a great dad." Kate confirmed.

"Sarah never gave him the chance to be a dad." Ben told her. "She insisted that they were trying for a baby, but all the time she was screwing around with someone else. He didn't love her anyway."

"How do you know?"

"Because he never looked at her with the amount of feeling in his eye as he has when he looks at you."

Kate smiled, she thought it was rather funny how everyone picked up on that. When they had gotten together at first, everyone had known because they had been waiting for it, and apparently their eyes said it all.

"I was married once." She said softly. Ben frowned - she had never mentioned that. "It didn't work out."

"Why not?"

"Because he killed my baby."

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Ben's eyes widened, they might just have stumbled onto winning ground.

When they went back into the courtroom fifteen minutes later, they did so with a new hope in their eyes.

"The defence may call their final witness." The judge announced, no sooner had everyone sat down again. Curtis, Kate noticed, was now fast asleep on Jack's shoulder, and even Kaia was leaning against him tiredly.

It had already been agreed that Sam, Claire and Sawyer would be Kate's witnesses, and maybe Sun, but other than that, there was no more. So when Ben stood up and announced; "I'd like to call Katherine Austen to the stand", everyone whispered.

She made her way to the stand, sitting up and quickly grazing her eyes upon the crowd of people whom she had lived with for nine years. They all looked upon her no differently to her family, and she realised that these people were her family. They loved her, and she loved them in return. Her eyes feel on Kaia and Curtis, Curtis still sleeping, his peaceful face reminding her of all the times she had watched Jack sleeping. Jack kept his eyes trained on hers, the determination mixed with that hope that had always shined from his eyes.

She took a deep breath and prepared herself to release yet another memory that she didn't want to remember. She hated the fact that she could remember these things to clearly, yet the normal childhood memories of smiles and laughter were dwindling day by day. The only reassurance that came from that was that these memories were replaced with the images in her mind of her own children laughing, and she knew that they would never have the life that she had.

Ben stood before her, and she held her head as high as she could. What use was there being ashamed this time? She had done nothing wrong. This wasn't her mistake. She was the victim this time. She was the one who had suffered.

"Now, Katherine," Ben started, using her full first name for the sake of the courts. "I understand that today has been hard for you." He sympathised. "A lot of childhood memories have been relived, and none of them are very pretty." She simply nodded in response. "There is, however, a period of three years that is unaccounted for today. Katherine, could you explain your relationship to Mr Nicholas Dodd?"

She nodded. "He was my husband."

The only person who didn't react to this news was Jack. Only he knew the true story of what had happened in Kate's marriage, and why it had ended. It was hard enough to tell him, let alone to tell anyone else.

"How old were you when you married him?" Ben asked.

"I had just turned nineteen."

"Why marry so early?" He asked curiously, but these were all questions that they had spoken through during the recess, so she wasn't surprised to hear any of them.

"It was my step-father's idea," She said, inwardly cringing at the mention of Wayne. "He wanted me to get married so that I could move out of his house."

"And you chose Nick." Ben nodded, and paced around for a moment. "He was older than you, yes?"

"Three years older." She confirmed. "He was twenty-two when we got married."

"The same age you were at the time of the divorce, I understand?" Kate simply nodded. "What were the terms for the divorce?"

"A misunderstanding." She murmered, looking down at the ground.

"A misunderstanding?" Ben questioned, and turned to the jury. "Would anyone else refer to the death of a child and a severly beaten woman as 'a _misunderstanding_'?"

Jack caught Sam's eye above Kaia's head. Clearly, Sam wasn't aware of Kate being beaten or a child dying. Jack just gave him a look that showed him it was true, and turned back to watching Kate.

"Katherine, how long after the wedding did he start beating you?" Ben asked.

"About six months." She admitted, the shame that she had convinced herself she didn't need to feel setting in. "I dropped the dinner when I took it out of the stove."

"Did you ever tell anyone about what was happening?" He asked, but Kate shook her head. "Why not?"

Kate closed her eyes, and two tears slipped down her cheeks. "Because it was better than staying with Wayne." She said. "The odd beating was better than being abused four times a week."

"When did you find out that you were pregnant?"

"Just before our third anniversary." She confirmed. "It was an accident, I didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. He wanted us to have children, but he was violent and I wasn't ready to be a mother. It couldn't have worked." She babbled as it all started to just flood her mind again.

"What happened when he found out?"

"He didn't find out until I was five months." She remembered, and her eyes glazed over as she succumbed to the memories. "He used to come home drunk every at two am, and just collapse at the couch, and slept until midday. By that time, I had gone to work, and I was asleep when he came back. He never had time to notice that I was pregnant."

"What happened, Katherine?" Ben repeated, his voice still steady but also urging her on.

She drew in a shaky breath. "I came home from work one night, and he was still home. He'd been drinking, a lot. I didn't have to say anything, because he could see for himself that I was pregnant. By that time, I'd convinced myself that I wanted the baby. I was going to run away, have the baby without him, where it would be safe. He wasn't happy, though, because I'd kept it from him. He accused me of cheating on him."

Ben placed his hands on the side of the box, looking directly at the woman before him. "Katherine, what did he do to you and the baby?" He asked her again.

"He hit me." She said. "He hit me so hard that I was screaming, but he didn't stop. I don't remember anything else, but I woke up in hospital two days later. I remember looking down, and my stomach was black with bruises. I knew that my baby was dead before the doctors even told me." Kate gave a nervous laugh through her silent tears, one that kept her from crying, "They said I would have had a boy."

"Where was Dodd?" He asked her after she had taken a few minutes to compose herself.

"The police found him collapsed outside a bar. He left me in the house, and ran away, but my neighbours called an ambulance. He admitted to it, and I was given a restraining order against him while the divorce went through."

"Thank you, Katherine." Ben nodded to her. "Now, according to Nicholas Dodd's statement, he had been liasing with Wayne Jansen. He admitted that it was Wayne who had confirmed Katherine's pregnancy to him, and had convinced him that it was another man's baby, is that correct?"

Kate nodded. "Wayne overheard me telling my Mom that I was going to leave when the baby was born. He told Nick, and spurred him on to hit me."

"What happened after the divorce?" Ben asked.

"I moved back in with my Mom, but didn't know about what Wayne had done. I found a copy of his statement hidden away with Wayne's alcohol one night, one that he didn't want me to or my Mom to see, and I confronted him about it."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that it was the right thing to do, because girls like me didn't deserve to have children and be happy. Then he raped me and forbid me to tell anyone about it." She added quietly.

"And we know what happened after that." Ben said, meeting with a nod from Kate. "No further questions." He announced.

"Does the prosecution have any questions?" The judge asked, but Marcus was looking at Kate with as much disbelief on his face as the other survivors were.

He shook his head. "No questions."

"Are there any further witnesses?" The judge asked, but both Ben and Marcus declined. "Then the jury are excused to make their decision."

The wait for the jury was hard and long. For forty minutes, Kate sat in that wooden chair, listening to the conversations behind her. She wasn't allowed to join in them. She could faintly hear Jack murmering in conversation with the children. Curtis woke up, and Jack excused himself momentarily to take the boy to the bathroom again, but that was all the movement in and out of the room. She heard Kaia giggling and Sawyer cursing, which suggested that they were playing rock-paper-scissors again. She was glad that Kaia wasn't involved in this. She had a feeling that her five-year-old daughter would at least understand some of what the lawyer's were explaining about her past, but was glad that she was too distracted to have listened in the first place.

And finally, the judge asked for the room to rise, as the jury came back into the room. Kate was brought around to stand in the centre of the room, before the judge, with two guards either side of her ready to act on the verdict. Her breathing became faster. This was it. This was the moment that was going to make her or break her. She closed her eyes, trying to remain calm, a million images flashing through her head that she wanted to remember. This was the moment she had dreaded for fifteen years.

"How do you find the defendant?" The judge asked, as the head juror stood up.

Kate shook her head to herself. Any hope she had in her case was gone as it overwhelmed her completely. She was going to prison. She wasn't going to see her family again. She wouldn't see her babies when they were born. She'd be labelled 'dangerous', a 'hazard to humanity'. She'd never get to be with Jack again. Her children would grow up without her. She wouldn't get to see their first days at school, she wouldn't be home for Christmas, she wouldn't be there to see them become teenagers...she wouldn't see them get married, and have their own children. She wouldn't see anything.

"We find the defendant..."

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**A/N: Okay...this is evil to leave the chapter hanging here, but I had to. If only to make the start of the next chapter seem more brilliant...mainly because I'm not entirely sure what the verdict is going to be myself. It could go either way and I could still have a story for it.**


	54. Going Home

**A/N: This is just a short chapter to make up for the ending of the last one. I know that you wanted a fast update because of the ending, and if I added more to this chapter it would only make me take longer to actually come up with a gap filler, so I'll post this on it's own and then do the rest of it as planned. And for Sophie's friend, who said to her that this was the best Jaby story ever, I give you a big hug, whoever you are! You made my week saying that honey!

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"We find the defendant..."

She braced herself, closeing her eyes and biting down hard on her lip, almost drawing blood. Was it going to end this way? Was she going to cry when it was announced? Would she sob and scream as they took her from the room, or would she hold her head high and keep what little was left of her pride after it had been thinned out and beaten at all day? How long would they put her away for? Ten years? Fifteen? Fifty? Life? Oh God...did they still have the death penalty?

"...Not guilty."

A lot happened in the next five seconds.

Sawyer and Jack screamed out "Yes!" and Kaia cheered in with them.

The girls all stared to applaud, accompanied by all of them.

Kaia leaned over the back of her seat and gave Walt a high-five.

Curtis looked around him, confused at first, but saw everyone happy, and laughed, clapping away.

There were cheers from the other survivors, with Sawyer, Charlie and Hurley starting up a chant of "Kate! Kate! Kate!"

Kate simply stood there, letting it sink in.

Not guiltly.

As in...not guilty...not going to prison.

She wasn't going to prison.

She wasn't even being charged...with anything.

She was going home.

She was free.

She smiled, letting out a choked laugh, and let the last lines of the judge wash over her, all except for "Katherine Austen, you're free to go.", which she cherished. Those final words were going to burn in her mind forever as the day she lost her reason to run. The day she stopped being referred to as a 'criminal', a 'fugitive'...she was a person now, and could go back to roles she had grown used to. Girlfriend...fiancee...mother...friend...they weren't just temporary until they were ripped away from her anymore, they were for life now.

She watched as the judge left the stand...followed by the jury...and the prosecution lawyer...and Ben came to stand infront of her. "You're free, Kate." He smiled at her, watching her shocked face.

She looked up at him, slowly registering the information still. Her eyes glistened over with tears as she gave him a smile. "Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you, so much."

"No problem." He said, giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek. If she were in her right mind, or perhaps paying more attention to the fact that this man had just given her life back to her, she probably would have strangled him into a hug, but instead, she remained breathless and rooted to the spot. "I think someone else wants your attention." He told her, walking over to his briefcase and occupying himself whilst Kate turned on the spot.

Jack was standing about ten feet behind her, giving her the biggest smile his face would allow. She smiled back, not seeing anything else except for him. At first, her smile was weak, and then it just exploded with a laugh that she didn't even know she was holding, and she ran towards him, closing the gap between them. She flung her arms around his neck, and immediately his arms wrapped tightly around her back, holding her so close that their bodies might have molded together.

She wasn't aware of her feet being lifted off the floor, but she felt Jack spin her around once and then return her to her feet. All she could do was to hold on tight to him whilst it continued to sink it. She was free. No more running from the law. She wasn't guilty. She was innocent. Free. Just like Jack had promised her. She smiled into his neck, and through her smile came the tears, and she didn't do anything to stop them. For almost half of her life, she had been on the run, worrying about getting caught, and wondering what would happen if she was found. Gradually, she had found a life, but that only gave her something to have taken from her. Jack, Kaia, Curtis, and the soon-to-be twins...nothing was going to take them away from her. She was going home, with them.

Hadn't Jack promised her that she'd be home for Christmas?

When Jack felt the damp, salty tears against his neck and shoulder, he released his hold on her slightly, and she brought her head up to meet him. At that moment, it was like he was seeing her for the first time all over again. There was a light in her eyes, a hope that hadn't been there for the last few days. Whatever joy she usually had in those emerald orbs was diminished with the arrival of the letter announcing her court date, and now, it was back again, revealed from its hiding place by the shed of tears that was continuing.

"I'm free." She murmered to herself, and then stronger, with a smile. "I'm free. I'm really free."

"It's all over now." He smiled back at her, stroking her hair back from her face.

She laughed again, and brought her hands down infront of her, unwinding them from his neck. "God," She said, shaking her head lightly. "I'm shaking." She announced, showing Jack her quivering hands, which he took to hold in his own. "I just...I can't believe it." She said.

"Well, how about we get you back home, and start helping you believe it." He suggested, and leaned forward to kiss her.

Their lips met, and slowly, Kate regained her former self. The scared child that had been revisited in her that day was gone, and she was Kate again, not Katherine, Kate. Kate Austen. Soon to be Kate Shephard. "I'd like that." She smiled. "I'd like that a lot."

Jack grinned, and replaced his arm around her shoulders, steering her towards where their family stood with Sawyer, even though considering that the children referred to him as thier uncle, that made him their family. Sawyer was holding Kaia's hand, and had Curtis on her hip, which left Sam waiting to see his daughter. She smiled at him, and went to hug him.

There always is something about a father's arms that are comforting. Something about the arms that raised you holding you is a feeling that can't be taken away. Jack understood that, because he had lacked it for the majority of his life, which is why being a father was so important to him. It made him proud to know that his daughter loved her father like her mother loved Sam.

Kate pulled away from Sam and stood infront of him, and he placed a kiss on her forehead. "How's freedom?" He asked her with a smile.

She nodded, smiling broadly still. "It's fantastic." She told him, as Jack came to stand beside her.

"Mommy?"

She looked to see Curtis looking at her from Sawyer's hip, and she moved to take her son from him. "Yeah, baby?" She asked him.

"Mommy coming home?" He asked hopefully.

Kate smiled, fresh tears falling down her face as she hugged him to her. "Yeah, sweetheart, Mommy's coming home."


	55. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

**Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

* * *

**

"Mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Daddy!"

"Mom! Dad! Wake up!"

"Get up time!"

"Come on!"

The happy cries of two children filled the house and Jack and Kate both laughed. They had both been awake anyway, awaiting the excited calls of the children for the past hour. Kaia and Curtis ran into the bedroom, leaping happily onto the bed and jumping up and down with stockings in their hands, filled to the brim with shapes covered in wrapping paper.

It was the family's first real Christmas. Or rather…

"Come on Mommy! It's Cwistmas!" Curtis announced.

Cwistmas. Bless him, it was a hard word for him to say.

After a short while of excited chatter and more jumping, Kaia and Curtis settled down on the bed whilst their parents watched over them with smiles. Jack had gotten them both drinks earlier, he having coffee seeing as he had been up late the previous night, and had awoken early that morning as well, and Kate having a warm hot chocolate because Jack said that pregnant women shouldn't have coffee. After their scare last month, she wasn't willing to defy him on any suggestions.

With the scare with the twins, Kaia's kidnapping, and Kate's trial over, everything seemed to have fallen into place. A new housing estate had been build in the suburbs of Sydney, which meant that nearly all of the survivors managed to buy a large house to accommodate them, courtesy of Oceanic. Their overall compensation from the airline company had come in at just over £3 million dollars each, which some of the survivors had refused, yet most of them had accepted. Jack and Kate had debated about it at first, yet decided to take it and store it away, using it only when they needed it. There wasn't anything they needed for themselves, so they planned to use it for the children.

All of their closest friends from the island lived in the complex, except for those who decided to return to the states or elsewhere. Charlie and Claire lived next door to them on one side, and Shannon and Sayid, who were also expecting a baby of their own now, lived on the other side. A few houses down, Sun and Jin had moved in after visiting Korea for a short while to assure their parents that they were okay. Hurley lived with Libby just down the road. Sawyer and Ana had moved in together, but told the others that it was simply for "friendly company", but it had become clear long ago that Sawyer's idea of friendly company involved contraception (which, to Jack's horror, had been discovered by Aaron and Kaia whilst decorating along with the question "what's this for?").

Jack and the other male survivors all helped each other with decorating the new houses, but Jack had done most of their house himself, with the strange help from Sawyer, and occasionally Sayid when it was a three person job. Jack and Kate had a warm terracotta coloured room with reds and oranges that radiated with the sunlight.

Kaia had a lilac room, as she refused flat out to have pink because Aaron told her it was as silly colour, and had fallen in love with the colour since Shannon had introduced it to her through the form of a hair scrunchie. This hair scrunchie was almost always in her hair, unless she had it down, in which case it was on her wrist.

Curtis, however, hadn't been able to settle on one colour, so Jack promised to surprise him, and for two weeks, Curtis had slept in Kaia's room whilst Jack worked in that room. Only Kate knew what was happening behind that door, and she couldn't wait to see the look on her son's face when he went into it.

Oh, how he had smiled. Jack painted the room like it was a jungle scene, with paintings of rocks on one side, for the caves, and the other side was done in a beach form, with trees and different animals that Curtis liked fitting in the gaps. Kaia, naturally, still insisted that her room was better with all the lilac coloured furniture that Jack had painted, and the flowers that Kate replaced every few weeks before they died. Seeing the flowers everyday reminded her of Sun's garden on the island.

As the children laughed together, they opened the different presents that were inside their Christmas stockings. CD's of the new music that Kaia liked, DVD's of the films that they had grown to love recently, sweets and toys. Jack put his arm around Kate's waist, giving her a deep kiss whilst the children were occupied with their new toys.

"Merry Christmas." He told her sweetly.

"Merry Christmas." She replied with a smile, kissing him again.

His hand went to her stomach, which was a lot larger than it had been last month considering she had two children growing inside of her. Her morning sickness had reduced to nothing now, and a recent trip to the doctors had showed that she was due to give birth in June, but because it was twins, it would probably be April or May.

* * *

After a while, they decided to go downstairs for "breakfast", but in reality were just taking the children down to where the rest of the presents were all over the lounge. Their newly decorated lounge was now covered with two large piles of presents, one was Kaia's, and one was Curtis's, both the size of a mountain, and both earning looks of wonder from the children.

"Are they for us?" Kaia asked in amazement.

"Sure are, sweetheart." Jack said, and Kaia gasped.

"All of them?"

"All of them."

"Like…all of them?"

"All of them." Kate laughed softly.

"Wow." She said quietly. "This is the bestest first Christmas ever!" She said, and ran over to her pile of presents. Curtis followed her to his own, and they happily started unwrapping again.

Jack laughed, and watched Kate's expression as she watched the children for a moment, and then called over to the kids. "Guys, you stay out of trouble for a minute, okay?" He told them. "I'm going to show Mommy her present."

Kate looked at him in surprise. "What?" She asked him through a laugh.

"You be all right down here?" Jack asked the kids, ignoring Kate's question but smiling at it.

"Yeah!" They answered back, and Jack placed his hands on Kate's waist, leading her back up the stairs.

"Come on, Mommy's turn." He said playfully, and led her upstairs.

He lead her upstairs beside their bedroom, up to the room that he hadn't allowed her to be in for two weeks. For the past fortnight, he had been disappearing into it with boxes, making a lot of loud noises, swearing a lot when an unnecessary loud noise occurred, and playing music which he sang along to when he didn't expect Kate to be listening to through the door with their two giggling children.

"Do I get to see what's inside now?" She asked with a playful smile.

Jack nodded. "Close your eyes." He told her softly. She did so without argument, and felt Jack's lips upon hers. She responded to the kiss, and just as it was about to deepen, Jack pulled away.

"Tease." She muttered with a laugh.

"No! Keep your eyes closed." He told her when she went to open them. She laughed, and kept them shut, hearing the door open. Jack took her hands and led her into the room. The door closed behind them, and when she was stood in the middle of the room, Jack stopped walking, still holding onto her hands. "Right, you can open them now." He told her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and looked at the room around them, gasping straight away. The room had been painted a cream colour with a white wallpaper border around the centre that had oriental symbols around the edge traced in gold. Against one wall of the room, two birch wood cribs protruded into the centre of the room. The whole room was kitted out for the twins, and Kate's eyes filled with tears at the matching everything.

"Oh, Jack." She said as two tears slipped over her cheeks. She hated feeling over-emotional. It made her want to just rip out her ovaries and throw them somewhere. "It's…beautiful." She gasped.

"You like it?" He asked as she walked over to one of the cribs and traced the edge of it, gazing down at the bedding inside with that maternal gaze he loved to see radiating from her.

"Like it? I love it." She smiled, and went back over to him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "Thank you." She muttered with a smile.

He hugged her back, grinning to himself, pleased that his hard work had paid off. "I'm glad you like it." He told her. "I know that this is something we didn't have for Curtis and Kaia, and I wanted to surprise you with it." He explained.

"It worked." She said with a laugh.

"Besides," He added, his hand going to Kate's stomach, which was now protruding slightly where the twins were growing within. "I decorated my other babies rooms, I couldn't leave these two out."

Kate grinned, and kissed him. "I love you so much." She smiled.

They stayed in the new nursery for a while longer, whilst Kate explored every detail of what Jack had done, and then they returned downstairs to the kids, who were still unwrapping presents. Kate and Jack settled on the couch, watching whilst Curtis and Kaia unwrapped their new games, toys, and their favourites…bikes.

Then, it was time for the final present to come out. Kate had a hard time winning Jack around on this one, but when they gathered the two children into the centre of the room whilst Jack went into the kitchen, she knew that Jack was secretly happy about this. Seeing as Kaia had been asking non-stop since they got home, and Curtis had been copying her, they had done the normal thing and given in to their demands. He came back into the room with a bundle in his arms, watching as the children's eyes lit up at the sight of the puppy.

"A puppy!" Kaia squealed, and ran over to Jack, who kneeled down on the floor so that the children could stroke the new addition to the family.

The puppy, a black and white border collie with brown marks around the eyes and brown patches on the tail, jumped out of Jack's arms and over to Kaia, where it jumped into her arms and covered her in wet kisses all over her face whilst she giggled.

After a long deliberation of names, they decided to name the puppy Max, and the black and white ball of fur conceded to follow Kaia and Curtis around consistently for the rest of the day.

"Daddy?" Curtis said, as he crawled into Jack's lap that night.

"Hey, kiddo." Jack said, ruffling his curls softly.

"Daddy, I like Cwistmas." Curtis told him with a smile. "Can we have one next year as well?" He asked hopefully.

Jack smiled and nodded. "We'll have one every year." He promised, and Curtis smiled.

* * *

A/N: Christmas in August...that's strange.


	56. WellThat Was Unexpected

**Okay...this chapter skips ahead a bit again, it also is very fast paced and has a shock at the end. Laura...you requested this shock, it's your shock, and you've got a part in it :P **

Christmas had marked the start of a new life in civilisation for the Shephard family. They were happy, healthy, and had the life that they never dreamed of. Kaia had started school after the Christmas season was over. She had only started a few months later than the others, so she hadn't missed much, and whenever Kate collected her from school, her teacher always told her how advanced she was for her age. Curtis wasn't due to start kindergarten for a year or so yet, and so Kate and Jack's days at home weren't completely child-free. Kate was glad for that, because having spent every day around her children, she would immediately miss one of their presences.

The only thing that seemed to be a problem for them, was that Kate wasn't quite a Shephard yet. Kaia and Curtis had always been known as Shephard children, and that had been official when, after Kate's trial was successful, her and Jack finally got them copies of birth certificates. They were even able to fill in their weight at birth, even though they had needed to use the food scales in the hatch. So now, the only person who wasn't bound to the family by name, was Kate.

They had plans to marry after the twins were born, in June. June always seemed like a good month to get married. It was warm, but it wasn't sweltering heat, and it wasn't frozen spring days either. It was the start of summer, warm and casual, heralding their new beginnings as a married couple. They'd always acted like a married couple, it would just be nice to have a ring on their fingers to complete things.

But Charlie and Claire beat them too it. Kate wasn't exactly happy about appearing 'fat' in the wedding photos, but when the snaps came back, she saw that the baby bump was shown off nicely by her bridesmaid dress, and she did, in fact, look absolutely fine. Jack wondered what was glowing more - her smile, or her whole face. Pregnancy agreed with her.

Charlie and Claire were the first of the Oceanic survival love stories to get married. They had a ceremony down on the closest sandy beach they could find. The whole ceremony was outside, and they insisted on Eko being their priest. In fact, most of the couples insisted on Eko leading their wedding. It had taken a lot of time for them to arrange the ceremony around the tides, and to find a private strip of beach that was large enough to accomodate so many people.

Aaron was their ring bearer. Charlie was even happier when the boy called him 'Dad' now, because they recieved a very special Christmas present. Claire had sent adoption papers to Thomas, who had signed Aaron away to him. Enclosed was a note, saying that he had no hard feelings towards Claire for wanting another man to be his father, especially, he added, someone who he had seen on the news who had clearly doted on the boy. Claire had showed Charlie this note, and he had hidden it away, if ever the time came where Aaron had to know about Thomas. Clearly, it wouldn't be kept forever that Claire was already carrying Aaron when the plane crashed.

Claire had first attempted to get his birth certificate with Charlie as Aaron's father, but Charlie insisted that they do it the right way, and get Thomas's permission. Claire's worst nightmare was that Thomas would start wanting access to his son, but it didn't happen, and he admitted he was still in no position to think about raising a child. Charlie and Claire had been over the moon.

Aaron had walked up the sandy ailse after his mother, who wore a beautiful white strapless dress. Beside him, walking his new cousin, Megan, and Kaia, who were flower girls. Curtis was their pageboy. When they reached the alter and the ceremony began, Megan and Kaia stood with Kate, Sun and Shannon, and Aaron and Curtis stood with Liam, Jack, and Hurley. Jack had been thrilled when he was asked to be Charlie's best man, but not quite as thrilled as when Kate has been asked to be maid of honour. Of course, Jack was just happy that when the best man had to dance with the maid of honour, he would be dancing with Kate.

As Charlie and Claire looked into each others eyes lovingly throughout the whole ceremony, Jack and Kate did the same, glancing innocently at each other throughout the whole wedding. Both of them were thinking that in only a few months, it would be them reciting their vows at the alter.

When Eko had announced the marriage complete, Claire had leaned into Charlie's kiss, and whispered that she had a very special announcement of her own. Later on, at the reception, she had told the crowds how she was pregnant. Charlie had literally jumped up and down with Aaron on his shoulders, celebrating the knowledge of his next child. Although Aaron wasn't his flesh and blood, he still considered him as his first child.

Whilst Charlie and Claire had travelled to the other side of Australia for a road trip honeymoon across the outback, Aaron had stayed with Kate and Jack for the week. Kaia had been thrilled when it seemed like they were living back on the island again, and first thing in the morning she would run into the spare room, where he was sleeping, and jump on his bed and demand that he wake up. They did go to the same schools for the meantime though, so they weren't completely apart.

Shannon and Sayid had been next to get married. They had two ceremonies, one for each of their religions, and each in the same day. This way, they both had a joining that was important to them. They had Kaia as their bridesmaid, with Aaron as ringbearer and Curtis as pageboy, just like Charlie and Claire did. They were slightly more daring, and jetted off to Paris for their honeymoon. When they had announced that, everyone looked at them like they were mad to be getting back on a plane.

Thankfully, the two arrived safely back at Sydney airport a fortnight later, with smiling faces, and clearly no signs of landing on a deserted island for the two weeks, which restored a little more faith in the airline system for the survivors.

Jack and Kate were still undecided about what they would do for their honeymoon. It would mean leaving the four kids with someone, and at that time, Kate knew that she wasn't going to be up to leaving her newborns behind. It would be hard enough leaving Kaia and Curtis., without the two that she would still be getting attatched to. So they decided that they would postpone their honeymoon. They would have a few nights in a hotel, but save the honeymoon for a few months down the line, when they were both more prepared to fly around the world.

Carrying twins made Kate more tired that ever. She had always been tired carrying her first two children, but twins doubled the load. She was sleeping more than she was awake throughout the day, and one day, to Kaia's horror, she was late picking her up from school. The girls horror was soon forgotten, however, when Kate was awoken by the knocking of the door finding that Aaron had walked her home. God bless that boy.

She felt as huge as two houses, and couldn't remember the last time she had seen her feet without looking in a mirror from the distance. Jack sometimes spent the evening giving her a footrub, to ease her aching muscles, and just to assure her that her feet were still there, despite her insistance that she was simply walking on stumps with shoes attached to them. It was how they taught Kaia to tie her shoelaces, helping Kate when she couldn't reach her own.

At the start of April, however, her energy seemed to return to her. She wasn't surprised either, realising how much sleep she had recently had. Her body felt more alive than ever, and she was happy to be out of bed and moving around. That morning, she had walked Kaia to school with Claire and Aaron, and then herself, Claire, Sun and Shannon were going to check the flowers for the wedding.

She had just signed a few forms when her hand shot to her stomach.

"Kate?" Claire asked.

She doubled over a little as she felt the familiar pain of a contraction tear through her. "I think it's starting." She moaned through gritted teeth.

The girls jumped into action. Sun went to one side and called Jack. Claire went to another side and called an ambulance. Shannon let Kate squeeze her hand until the contraction was over and coached her through just like she had done with the last two births. Kate had forgotten just how much it had hurt.

They arrived at the hospital, and Kate was taken straight to the delivery room. Jack caught them up on the way there, and was immediately by her side, leaving a confused Curtis with the girls outside in the corridor. Then they recieved the bad news...this wasn't going to be happening any time quickly.

"Oh no..." Kate groaned, throwing her head back in the pillow. "Can't you speed it up somehow?" She asked the midwife who had overseen most of her pregnancy.

"I'm sorry, Kate, you've got two laid back children, you're just going to have to wait for them."

Another contraction hit her, and she took hold of Jack's hand. "These two are grounded as soon as they're born." She told him, watching him smile at the comment.

"Don't worry." He assured her, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Everything's going to be fine."

The midwives were right when they said that they were going to be a long time. Whilst Kate was in labour, a lot of things happened in the corridor outside. Charlie collected Aaron and Kaia from school at three, and brought them up to the corridor. Sawyer turned up at around four, and brought his trusty deck of cards to see them through a few hours. He tried to get a few of the passing nurses to join in for a game of strip poker, but they declined. So he, Charlie, and when he arrived, Hurley, played as many games as they could think of. Kaia complained that she was bored several times, and her and Aaron quickly got bored of playing 'I spy'.

Then came the hunger. Sawyer went and got some money from Jack, and then took the kids to get some dinner from the nearest fast-food resturant. He got them ice-creams on the way back to the hospital, which kept them happy for a long time. As they went into the corridor, he doubled back to get a cup of water, and a cup of coffee, taking them in to Jack and Kate. That was much appreciated, but Kate had begged him to bring her coffee. He asked her if she wanted her screaming children to be born on a caffeine high. She had said no.

Curtis fell asleep on Claire's lap around eight-ish, but Kaia and Aaron stayed awake, learning to play cards from Sawyer. Aaron was whipping them all at Texas hold'em. Then, Jack's head poked around the door.

"First one's a girl!" He announced proudly.

"Yay! A sister!" Kaia grinned, as Jack disappeared back into the room.

Ten minutes later, Jack poked his head around the door again.

"Second one's a boy." He announced.

He went back into the room, looking at his exhausted love in the bed. She was smiling up at him through her tired eyes. He sat down next to her, whilst he heard their crying twins behind him. "How are you feeling?" He asked her.

"A lot better for having drugs this time." She said, and he leaned down to kiss, her. Their lips were just about to touch, however when Kate hissed in pain again.

"Kate?" He questioned worriedly, and one of the midwives came over, checking her.

The midwife called out to the other nurses. "We've got another one on the way."

"Another one!" Jack and Kate asked at the same time, shocked.

Kate shook her head. "No, that's not possible. I've just had them both."

But it was possible, very possible, and seven minutes later, another baby was added to the cries.

"Three." Jack murmered in disbelief. "Three babies."

"I never thought that three was a big number before." Kate mumbled tiredly.

"How do you feel now?" Jack asked her, grinning from hearing his children.

She smirked, rolling her eyes up to meet his. "Like a parade just came out of my vagina."

Jack laughed, leaning down to kiss her, and this time, the arrival of an unexpected baby didn't interrupt them.

Kate looked up at him. "Where are the others?" She asked. "Kai and Curt..."

"They're outside with everyone."

"Can you bring them in here?" She asked.

Jack nodded, and went over to the door, whilst with the midwives help, Kate pushed herself into a sitting position. He spotted Kaia, and called her in. She hopped to her feet and ran over to him, going passed him to see Kate, and then he saw that Curtis was awake as well. Curtis reached his arms out to Jack, and Jack went to him, lifting him into his arms. He thanked them for watching the two, and then heard a long string of congratulations.

"Another two kids...you going for some track record, doc?" Sawyer smirked, shaking his free hand.

"Well, there was one more surprise than we counted on." Jack laughed. "She had triplets."

"TRIPLETS!" The screams came from all of them. The shock was greater to them than it had been to Jack, but he supposed that shock wouldn't set in for a while.

"Two girls, and a boy." He nodded.

He left them to their gossiping and squeeing, and went back into the delivery room. Kaia was sitting up on one side of Kate already, and he placed Curtis on her other side. Then came the bundles. Jack smirked, and smiled at Kate. "I think we're going to need an extra pair of hands."

"I'll do it!" Kaia said excitedly. "Can I? Can I hold my sister?"

Jack and Kate looked at each other and nodded. "Which sister?" He asked her. "You've got two of them."

"Two sisters?" She asked in disbelief. "Wow...thank you!"

Jack smiled, and the midwife placed a bundle in his arms. "This is the eldest daughter." She said, indicating a wristband marked 'Baby Shephard 1'. Jack looked through the blankets to the little girls face. It was screwed up where she was still crying, but she still looked beautiful. He placed a kiss on the child's forehead, and then carefully handed her to Kaia. Kaia was very good, holding the baby gently, but not letting her fall either. Kate looked over happily watching her girls until they came over with another bundle.

'Baby Shephard 2' was their newest son. Kate held him in his arms, whilst Curtis stood up on the edge of the bed, still only level with Kate's head, and looked at his baby brother. He liked this, because it made him taller than someone now. He wouldn't be the little baby anymore, because he was a big brother.

Jack was given 'Baby Shephard 3', their unexpected and random daughter. Her hand flung out of the blankets as he held her, and he knew that she was going to be a fiesty one, just like her mother.

"I guess this one must have been hiding behind the other two." Jack suggested, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"So thats why we never saw her on the ultrasound." Kate realised, leaning forwards as Jack showed her the latest addition.

It suddenly got a bit quieter in the room, and Kaia looked up excitedly. "Mommy! Daddy! Look!" She said. "She stopped crying."

True, the eldest daughter had stopped crying, and was looking at the room around her, still her with eyelids firmly shut however. Kaia giggled and smiled at her parents, and then at her sister. "Can her name start with a 'K' like mine?" She asked.

Naming the children had taken a long time. Kaia wanted her sister to start with a K, and Curtis wanted his brother to start with a C. Kate had suggested Christian for a boy, but Jack had declined. He knew that seeing the name Christian Shephard everyday would be too painful for him, and probably also for his mother as well, so they decided to use that for a middle name. Instead, they named their son Cody. Their eldest daughter was named Kasey, but when it came down to the youngest daugther, they couldn't settle on a name. It felt strange to name her with the K-C rule they seemed to have going, seeing as she was unexpected. They soon decided to start another rule. The J-K-L rule, and named their youngest daughter Laura.

Eventually, the children grew tired, and Sawyer agreed to take Kaia and Curtis home with him for the night. At this point, everyone else came in to see the new babies, and a few pictures were taken. 'A few' meaning about fifty altogether.

And so, this is how the Shephard family ended up with five children. Kaia Sahara Shephard, Curtis James Shephard, Kasey Shannon Shephard, Cody Christian Shephard, and Laura Claire Shephard. Not forgetting their dog either. Altogether, there would be eight of them in the house.

Things were never going to be the same again...they would never be very quiet either.


	57. Once Upon Forever

The big day had finally arrived.

It had taken just over eleven years, but Jack Shephard and Kate Austen were finally getting married.

Jack stood in the back garden of their new home, where they were going to hold the ceremony. The large back garden was more than big enough to hold all of their guests. Jack had flown in a few more of his family members to attend the ceremony, and Margo was flying back with them, so that she could pick up her best suit, so she had said. Kate had no one to bring over, but was happy enough with Sam attending as her family.

Delivery men had filled the garden at the moment, as he oversaw them bringing in the flowers and the chairs, even the makeshift alter that they were going to stand at together in a few short house. Despite the amount of priests around, Eko was going to marry them. It didn't feel right even considering having someone else conduct the ceremony when Eko had known them from the start of their relationship. At the patio of the garden, Claire was ordering around the caterers who had delivered the buffet food selection for them.

Inside, he knew that Kate was getting his children dressed. At the moment, Kaia was with him, more than happy to help tell the delivery men what to do. She was fascinated by the idea that their job was to do whatever people told them to, and was currently trying to get one of them to buy her a pony. Jack made a mental note of the fact that she wanted to have a horse to ride with Christmas coming round again soon.

They had decided that Kaia would be put in her flower-girl dress last, because with all that was happening, it was a dead certainty that she would get herself and her new dress dirty, so with an hour and a half before the ceremony began, she still hadn't been bathed.

Shannon was helping Kate get the children ready, whilst Sun was waiting at the front of the house for the dressmaker to bring Kate's dress. It was a custom made-dress, and that was all Jack knew. Everyone was so firm on traditions that he hadn't been allowed to see her that morning. He had slept in the guest room last night, so that he wouldn't chance a sneak peak at her in the morning. The bedroom windows were still closed upstairs, and he knew that was where she was hiding out.

Upstairs, Kate was putting the triplets into their outfits. They were all of a matching set, Laura and Kasey wearing dresses, and Cody wearing a two-peice outfit, all in pearl white. The triplets were six months old now, having already grown so fast. Having three newborns in the house was stressful, and Curtis was the first to complain about the crying. Kaia hadn't, and insisted that Curtis cried more as a baby, even though that wasn't true. He had been a quiet baby.

The most stressful time was when Kasey, Cody and Laura had a cold, and had been crying simultaneously for a week. Kate wondered whether her hearing had been damaged throughout this week having been so close to the crying children the whole time. Just as the triplets got over their cold, Kaia had caught it, and had needed a few days off school until their fever came down.

But now, everything was blissfully happy. There was always a rampage in the morning that was somewhat comforting. They enjoyed the morning rush to get Kaia ready for school and Curtis ready for kindergarten whilst keeping the babies happy as well. It reminded them both of what their life had become: perfect, and full.

Beside the bed where the three triplets lay, Curtis was sitting bawled up in fluffy white towel, waiting to be dressed. He had wanted to dress himself, but after falling over himself trying to get himself into the outfit, the three-year-old had given up and waited for Kate.

She helped him into his outfit, a white shirt with a black waistcoat and matching black trousers. It was a beautiful day outside, so there was no need for a jacket as well. She placed on his shining new black shoes, and set him down off the bed.

"Do I look beautiful, Mommy?" He asked her hopefully.

"No." She told him, watching his face fall for a moment, before bending down to his level and giving him a kiss and a cuddle. "You're more than beautiful, Curt."

Being 'more than beautiful' satisfied him, and he put his arms around Kate's neck, squeezing her tightly.

"Sorry to interrupt." Came a voice from the door, and she looked up to see Sawyer with a filthy dirty little girl under his arm. "Daddy says its bathtime for her."

Sawyer placed Kaia down on the ground, and Kate looked at her strangely. "How did she get so dirty?" She asked.

"Playing Rambo in the flower beds."

"Oh, Kaia." Kate sighed. "You better not have ruined any of the flowers." She warned.

Kaia smiled at her, a tooth missing on her top line of teeth. She had been so pleased when she had been visited by the tooth fairy. "I didn't. I promise." She told Kate.

"Okay. Bathtime it is." Kate decided, and bundled Kaia into the bath before she could protest.

Sawyer stayed in the room, sitting down on the bed as Curt crawled into his lap, and he began coodling over the babies whilst Kate started to clean half of the garden soil out of Kaia's hair.

There was nothing but silence apart from the noises of the content babies and splashing and laughing from the bathroom until Kate came back out with Kaia, starting to dry and dress her.

"So, this is it, huh?" Sawyer realised

"I guess so." Kate smiled, excited at her wedding in only an hours time.

"This is the day I finally let you go."

She looked up over Kaia's wet head to Sawyer, who was giving her a sad smile.

"Sawyer-" She started with a gentle smile, but he carried on.

"Don't get me wrong, me and Chica are great. What the heck, I love her." Kate smiled. "But there will always be a place in my heart for you, Freckles."

She looked at him. She knew that he loved her still, in his own way. After all, he had told her once that she was the first woman he had ever really loved, and that he loved her enough to let her go. By 'letting her go', of course, he meant, letting Jack have her. She was no stranger to the silent battle for her heart, but she always knew that Jack would be the winner.

"If I told you, you were one of the greatest friends I've ever had, you'd believe me, right?" She asked him.

Sawyer smirked. "Well, I wouldn't say 'great'." He told her, causing her to laugh softly. "But if he ever hurts you, I'll be the first one to kick his ass."

"I appreciate that Sawyer, but I think after eleven years and five children together, I know that he's not going to hurt me. Also, don't teach my children that kind of language. You know what they're like." She told him.

He laughed, and looked at Kaia in her bridesmaid dress. "Well, look at the little Princess." He admired. "All pretty like her Momma."

Kaia looked at him brightly. "Really, as pretty as Momma?"

Sawyer nodded. "Exactly like Momma."

Their eyes met, and she smiled at him. She had always been grateful for Sawyer's friendship, and even if, at first, she had found him attractive, she hadn't been in love with him like she was with Jack. She wanted to thank Sawyer for everything that he'd done to help her over the eleven years that she'd known him, but she didn't known what words to use. Sawyer nodded, understanding, and she knew that he knew what she was saying. He understood all along that Jack and Kate needed to be together, which is why he was Jack's best man.

"Kate, it's here."

She looked up to see Sun standing in the doorway, holding a dress bag in her hands. Inside, she knew was her wedding dress. Sawyer left, giving her his best wishes, and took Curtis downstairs to Jack. They knew that there was no chance of him getting dirty, and he would be standing with Charlie and the other ushers at the alter anyway.

All the girls suddenly crowded into the room to help Kate get ready. The triplets were entertained by Claire, who had finished with the catering, whilst Shannon helped Kate into her strapless dress. Then, both girls did her hair and make up, only using subtle shades to enhance her natural beauty. Jack had fallen in love with her without all the hassle of make-up, she wanted to marry him that way.

The dress was strapless, and fell down to her knees, lowering slightly more on the back with the uneven and layered skirt. There was a diamante pattern around the upper bodice, and the finishing touch was added with a diamante chocker necklace that Jack had brought for her a few months ago. She knew that he loved to see her wear it, and had planned to wear it with her dress.

Claire and Shannon did her hair in a plain style, with the top half of her hair bunched into a ponytail, and the bottom half curled more than its usual wave to hang over her shoulders. Around the bunched up area of hair, they attatched a clip that matched the necklace, and then attacked her with hairspray until even Kaia was trying to get the taste off her tongue.

Afterwards, Kate stood infront of the mirror, and for the first time in ages, she could admit that she really did look beautiful. Of course, Jack told her that she was beautiful every day, but sometimes, a girl needs to see it for herself. His words meant the world to her, and she could see it in his eyes that she was more than just pretty to him, but it is better to see it in one's reflection once in a while. And today was one of those times.

"Okay, five minutes. Time to go downstairs."

Kate simply smiled.

-----------------

Kate walked down the path created in the garden, and didn't care once to think about the people around her. She only thought about the man infront of her, and the children behind her. She was surprised at how quickly it took for her father to escort her down the ailse they had created towards Jack, and before she knew it, she was standing before him.

He took hold of her hands, and admired her dress, but found that he was more drawn to the expression of pure happiness on her face. This was more than the happiness he saw everyday when she tended to their children, or when he told her that he loved her. This was the happiness that only radiates from a girl at her wedding, when she knows that all that lies before her is happiness.

"You look beautiful." He whispered to her, and she squeezed his hands in reply as she grinned at him excitedly.

They both looked over each others shoulders unconsciously to check that everything was ready. Jack looked over at the girls, seeing Claire, six months pregnant with a daughter of her own, holding Kasey; Sun holding Laura; and Kaia standing at Shannon's side, holding her hand as well as the boquet of flowers that Kate has passed to her to hold.

Kate looked over Jack's shoulder, spotting his ushers lined up behind him. Sawyer was there, best man, with Curtis on his hip, and behind him was Sayid, holding Cody, and then Charlie, with Aaron at his side, mimicking Kaia's position with Shannon.

When they were certain that everything was ready to go, they turned to Eko and nodded, and he began the ceremony.

"We are gathered here today to witness the marriage between Jack and Kate, two lost souls who found each other in an unexpected place, and went on to have five beautiful children before comforming to marriage."

She smiled at Jack, squeezing his hands again. Throughout Eko's talking, they gazed into each other's eyes, and both of them immediately whipping their heads around when Cody stirred for a moment, but Sayid managed to still him, and they continued on. Jack and Kate smiled throughout their whole wedding, repeating everything they were meant to with passion in their words and determination to enjoy every moment of their marriage as they had done with their previous years together.

"Jack and Kate have written their own vows for the ceremony. Jack, if you would like to go first."

Jack nodded at Eko, and turned to Kate, taking a deep breath before he started speaking.

"I never even dreamed when I got on that plane that I was going to crash land and actually find the best thing life could throw at me." He told her. "When I first saw the burning fuselage, I really thought that we would die on the island, especially when bad things started happening. But despite everything that was going wrong, I met you, and I fell in love. After that, everything started to go right. In the strangest place, you made me feel like I had finally come home. So thats why I took you to the spot where we first met, and tried to find a way to show you how special you are to me. Back on the island, I never had chocolates, or roses, or diamonds to bring to you, but I still loved you with all my heart, and I promised myself that one day I'd buy you those things. So I did, once we were rescued, but it wasn't how I thought it would be. Because, at the end of the day, all I had to offer you at the start was myself, and that was all you wanted. You loved me when I had nothing to offer you but a heart that needed you more than anything, so I made sure that I always told you how much you mean to me. Now, you've given me the six most precious things in the world, you, and our five children. After eleven years of dreaming, I can finally put this ring on your finger and make you my wife, because I'm going to love you long after this heart's stopped beating."

If there was a dry eye in the house, it certainly wasn't Kate's. She knew that she was going to end up crying at some point, so she had made sure not to put any make up on her cheeks, as she knew she'd be rubbing it off.

"Kate, if you would like to say your vows." Eko invited.

Kate nodded, and looked at Jack for a few moments first. "To be honest, I came up here today not knowing what to say for my vows." She admitted. "And it's not because I couldn't write them, or that I didn't know what to say, it was that I wanted to stand up here and have every word come straight from my heart. I met you when I thought my life was practically over. I was headed for jail, and from the look of things I was going to be there for the rest of my life. Instead, eleven years on, I'm living in a beautiful house, with the greatest friends I will ever know, five amazing children, and the man I will love until my last breath." Jack squeezed her hand as she smiled again. "I never imagined that when I started falling for you, I'd fall so hard and so deep, but I did, and when you took me to that clearing and told me that you loved me, I knew that there was no going back, and that I'd never love someone like I love you. You tried to be my hero, even though you didn't feel like a hero inside, and you've done everything you wanted. You've taken care of me, protected me, built me a world to live in, and I always want to have you by my side in that world. Without you, it wouldn't be worth living in. So this is how things should be. Me, you, Kaia, Curtis, Kasey, Laura and Cody. Us and our children. We could be a million miles away, but as long as I'm with you, I could never be anything but happy."

Now there was tears in Jack's eyes as well, even though he'd promised himself that he wouldn't cry. He couldn't help it though. Hearing her words had just opened up a side to him that felt so relieved that he was finally able to call her his wife.

Eko smiled, and they placed the rings onto each others fingers, finally binding them in marriage, before he said the words that everyone was waiting to hear.

"Jack Shephard, you may _finally _kiss your bride."

Jack leaned forward and kissed her with everything he had. They had done it all. They had overcome all odds to be standing here today, sharing their first moments as a married couple. They had been kidnapped, tortured, seperated, pained, and hurt, but they were still together, and their love was strong. The past eleven years had brought them closer than any two hearts could ever be, and their five beautiful children showed that.

A long time ago, Jack Shephard and Kate Austen had fallen from grace...but that was forgotten the day they realised that they had fallen in love.

THE END

* * *

Yes, I'm not kidding, that's the end. The end of Fallen From Grace.  
Yes, I cried when I was writing it. A lot. This story is like my baby, and I've worked on it for just over a year now, so considering I'm 17...and a year of my life has been spent on this...thats quite a big portion.  
I'd like to say thank you to Toxic-Beetle, who assured me to start with that turning Kate into a 4 year old version of herself wasn't a crap idea, and that I would actually get some reviews from it. I never once thought that I'd get this many. And in all honesty, I did think it would end when Kate turned back into her normaly self, but you all wanted to know about Kaia, so I carried on...and on...and on...until all there was left to do was for them to get married.  
I was going to do an epilogue, but there's not much to put into it,so I'll just put the key points in here.

1. YES, Kaia and Aaron did eventually become boyfriend and girlfriend

2. YES, Shannon and Sayid do eventually have a child of thier own after looking after all of the others for eleven years.

3. YES, Jack and Kate lived blissfully happily ever after.

4. I know you're all going to hate me for this, but for the moment, I will NOT be doing a sequal. I've got so many other stories to finish before I even think about starting on the sequals I've got planned, and this currently a possible one.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed ths story! Laura, in the later chapters, thank you for putting up with my constant hounding begging chapters to be read...and thank you for pointing out my mistakes. I am a terrible speller and have a habit of missing words out all together. So thank you for being my guardian angel through this!

So this is...THE END...OF FALLEN FROM GRACE bows out


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